Legends
by Dragonsdaughter
Summary: When the Real World becomes too much, When the world is falling down around you, sometimes your dreams are still there waiting to catch you when you fall.
1. Prologue and Chapter One: In which Jaret...

Legends   
By Dragonsdaughter   
***   
I dont own Labyrinth. It is not mine to claim. I seek no benefits from this work, but to share it with others who may, perhaps gain a small amount of pleasure from my work.   
Thank you.   
***   
Prologue; Myths and Legends   
Theme music: something light and airy, preferably from Riverdance   
***   
Our Legends tell of us the past exploits of our Glorious Monarch, King Jareth of the Goblins and Overlord of the Underground and also of our Resplendent Guardian, Queen Sarah, formerly of the Mortals now also of the Goblins and Consort to the Overlord of the Underground. Thus begin all our Legends, except for the few that begin before out beloved King took unto his heart the Lady Sarah. The ages have worn on for so very long that it is difficult to find records of the time before Lady Sarah quit herself of the Aboveground and came to us as our Guardian. There is only the one to tell us the barest of facts, the Tale of how Lady Sarah came to us, left us, and returned to remain forever.   
This is the Tale of the Goblin Kings Bride.   
Many, many thousands of years ago, before you or I or the oldest of the Bards, keepers of the Underground Lore, existed; nay, before the Lbardia was ever founded, King Jareth ruled the Underground alone save for the Goblins to keep him company.   
As Goblins are poor company at the best of times, The Goblin King became very lonely, a loneliness of the kind only that only the Immortal can aspire to. He looked to his future and saw endless Millennia stretching before him spent as the last, utterly alone. Fae are few in numbers, yet great in power. In that time as in ours, they wasted their energies on feuding with each other. As our King was, and is, the most powerful of the Fae, they all gave him wide berth. He could expect to find no solace there.   
Saddened by the horror he saw himself slipping into, King Jareth began to watch upon the Mortal world in secret. He watched the mortals go about their daily lives in great curiosity, he learned many things about their kind. Most importantly, he learned that, though their instinctive powers were limited and near bred out, their potential for the Magical arts was nearly infinite yet more often than not their personal dispositions made such infinite potential too dangerous to exploit.   
King Jareth had inadvertently stumbled across the answer to his woes, although the exact plan did not actually come to pass for another two thousand years. In that time the Goblin King carefully released a spell into the hands of the mortal world, a spell that would summon him to any woman who spoke it. When he was summoned he would deliver unto them an ultimatum; remain with him forever as his slave or something equally unpleasant, or run the Labyrinth in Thirteen hours to win their freedom.   
The spell was originally released in the form of a song, though in later years he released it again as something the Abovegrounders call a Novel.   
The idea behind his plan was simple, any maiden who met his criteria would speak the spell phrase carefully embedded into the story whether or not it was a practical thing to do. Abovegrounders are notoriously adverse to doing anything that seemly overly fantastical or frivolous. Any maiden to speak those words would have a different mindset than those of her kind and be more capable of adapting to life in the Underground.   
In the years that followed, many young women called upon the Goblin King. Many were beautiful beyond compare, others were frail, as many were sturdy, and even more ugly as mortal sin. Yet when the Goblin King issued unto them the Challenge, none ever succeeded. In his mercy he returned them all to the Aboveground and left them no more than dreams of their adventure in the Underground.   
This contest continued for several hundreds of years until a young mortal by the name of Sarah wished her baby brother into the Underground in a fit of pique. King Jareth held out little hope for her. At first glance she was bitter and to some degree spoiled. Others braver and better than she had faced the Labyrinth and failed. He would allow her a chance run the gauntlet and when she failed he would return her and her brother to the Aboveground, leaving her with a nightmare which would hopefully teach her to love her brother a bit better.   
Little did our King know that in Sarah he had gained everything he had hoped for when he started the Game, more than hed dared dream of. Sarah not only defeated his Labyrinth, but did it within the time limit, and at the end when he sought to bend her will to his own she snapped his spells in half and fled the Underground by her own power, taking her brother with her.   
Sarah did not know shed sent herself back to the Aboveground, nor did she ever until the King told her several years later. It had seemed, for the time, that Sarah was free of Jareth forever. This was not so.   
The Goblin King had been waiting three thousand years to find a mortal such as Sarah, he would not let her go so easily. Little did our future Queen know, the Labyrinth was only the beginning.   
***   
end prologue.   
***   
  
***   
Chapter One; In Which Jareth is Annoying and Sarahs Undead Roommate Appears   
***   
It had been a long time.   
Sarah stepped over the threshold of her apartment and allowed the door to shut and lock itself as she shuffled dazedly into the living room. An ottoman darted out of her way as she collapsed into the plush sofa which immediately softened and firmed to support her in all the right places. Sarah took a deep breath and deflated.   
"I just had the day from hell." She groaned as she tossed her handbag onto the nearby coffee table, she missed but the coffee table stretched sideways to catch it before receding into its normal form. Sarah smiled tiredly at the coffee table and mouth the words thank you. The white oak coffee table darkened to a mahogany blush.   
A small swirl of white sparks appeared almost directly overhead. "Oh, bad day at the office, sugar?" a slightly accented, feminine voice emerged from the cloud. "You want I should fix dinner tonight?" she offered.   
"Thanks, Bea, but I can handle it. I just need to take a nice long soak in the tub and then Ill be fine." As if on cue the sound of running water started from behind the bedroom door. Sarah kicked off her fashionable pumps and massaged the arches of her feet. The ottoman that had avoided her earlier scampered over to do its intended duty, but Sarah waved it back. "Thanks, but Ill be getting up in just a minute."   
The cloud of white sparks- or rather Beatrice- swirled down to the ground beside the deflated ottoman. She resolved herself into the form of a slightly transparent African woman. She was about as tall as Sarah, with nut brown skin and corn-rowed hair weighted at the ends with sensible steel rings. She was garbed, and forever would be, in a loose white mens dress shirt and calico patterned bell bottoms. Beatrice had died in a drive by twenty years ago, when bell bottoms had been the height of fashion. Sometimes she had a white bandanna, sometimes she held a cigarette but she never changed much and Sarah didnt really mind. Her furniture had a life of its own. Why should she care about having a ghost for a roommate?   
Bea stroked the ottoman lovingly and it regained its presence. She glanced at Sarah, "He just wants to help."   
Sarah nodded. "I know, I just cant let myself get too comfortable." She gave a sigh and pushed herself up off the couch which drastically firmed up to aid her. She smiled at the furniture. "You guys spoil me." she said affectionately.   
Bea made a peace sign. "They know a good thang when they see it. I washed towels today, an they still warm. Two are in the bathroom now." she winked. "You jus go relax, you earned it." Bea blinked and looked off to the side as if she was trying to remember something... it came to her in a literal flash of light, or rather a sudden corona of light surrounding her ethereal form. "Oh yes! I got the commission for the Jameson web-site. Groceries are on me this week!"   
Sarah grinned. "Cool, nice to get some good news today. Theyre laying people off like crazy at the Office."   
"Shouldnt bother you, Chiquita." Bea said affectionately, her aura deepened to a fond pink as she used her pet name for Sarah. "You making plenty off your books to pay your half of the rent and keep you in groceries. You get laid off, you got more time to work, get bonus for finishing before dead-line."   
Sarah nodded. "I know, its just the principle of the matter." She said peevishly. "Ive been working there for five years, and putting up with that..." she clamped her mouth down on the next words. No, she couldnt say that out loud. Her supervisor was an unmitigated pervert but he didnt deserve what Bea would do to him if she ever found out that he... oh, forget Bea. What would HE do? It didnt bear thinking about.   
Beas jovial smile dimmed and her aura faded into a dull purple, the color of bruises. "There something you aint telling me about, sugar?"   
Sarah shook her head. "It isnt important."   
Bea frowned. "Sometimes I wonder if I can believe you when you say that, girl. I really do." Before Sarah had a chance to respond, Bea blinked out of sight. Sarah could hear the start-up from the computer in Beas room.   
She sighed. Bea always retreated to the computer when she was mad.   
"Ill have to do something to make it up to her later." Sarah murmured to herself as she entered the bedroom. The door swung in ahead of her and closed behind her. She stripped out of her sensible three piece business suit and cast the pieces on the bed, silently promising to hang them up neatly when she got out of the bath and changed into fresh clothes.   
Like the other doors in the house, the bathroom door opened politely and quietly shut itself behind her. Inside the bath was already drawn and looked too damn inviting. The water was vaguely purple and Sarah noticed a small amount of the bath salts she hoarded was missing. She smiled at the old claw foot tub. "You know just what I like."   
Her pantyhose and lingerie went up over the haphazard clothes line strung over the bath room window. Sarah gave a long moan of pleasure as she slipped into the steamy lavender scented water. "Oh! This is bliss!" Sarah sunk into the water until her nose nearly touched the surface of the water. For a long time, Sarah let all thought leave her mind and concentrated only on letting the warmth permeate her bones and soothe away all the tiny aches and pains that she never noticed until they were gone.   
Gradually, as the hot water worked its magic on her and Sarah began to feel relaxed, she realized she was no longer alone in the bathroom. She cracked open one eye to glare at the fantastically garbed man sitting on the edge of the tub, dappling his long fingers in the water. Today he was dressed all in muted blue and silver tones, soothing to the eye. It was a gesture Sarah did not overlook, especially after her trying day.   
"Im naked." She groused, though not ill naturedly. She was still too relaxed to get really snippety with Jareth... yet.   
His mismatched eyes glimmered with amusement. "Oh, Ive noticed. To be sure." He assured her.   
Sarah exhaled gustily. "I dont suppose it makes any difference to you that by my cultures proprieties a unmarried man and woman arent supposed to be alone together... especially if one of them is naked."   
"Stuffy, boring human rules if you ask me." Jareth sniffed, he turned a charming smile that coincidentally displayed his sharpened incisors. "If it bothers you so much, I can always fix that for us. The unmarried part I mean."   
Sarah plaster a false bright smile on her face. "I wouldnt want to put you out." she said with feigned sweetness.   
"Oh it would be no trouble at all!" Jareth assured her. "I look forward to it."   
"Out!" Sarah commanded.   
"Yes maam!"   
Outside the bathroom door, Sarah heard the distinct sound of booted feet walking around her bedroom. She hadnt really expected Jareth to go back underground, he never did... at least, not this soon. It seemed as if he spilt his time between alternately annoying Sarah and trying to get in her pants and doing whatever it was he did when he was in the Labyrinth.   
Sarah sighed, there was no way she could enjoy the rest of this bath knowing that Jareth was poking about in her bedroom. She finished her bath in a hurry, scrubbing herself pink in record time. When she stepped out, the tub gurgled as it pulled its own plug.   
She wrapped herself in a fluffy white terry cloth bathrobe and smeared all the appropriate hair goop in her riotous black hair. She carefully examined her hair in the mirror. "I think its time to put another coat of dye on it." she murmured to herself.   
The bathroom door opened as she walked through and snicked shut again, as it always did. Jareth was sprawled, catlike on her bed. The hand woven comforter had bee replaced by a sultry black satin confection with a million throw pillows embroidered in gold. If she looked under the comforter, Sarah suspected shed find black silk sheets. It was the sort of stunt he would pull.   
Sarah piled her dark hair into a sloppy bun and wrapped a towel around her head. "Those sheets are going with you when you leave, and you put my sheets back where you found them."   
Jareth heaved a sigh. "Sarah, you are in danger of becoming ordinary. I recall a time when you used to talk to yourself, dreaming of a fairy tale lover and silk sheets." He said irritatedly. "Cotton sheets and a cheap quilt!"   
Sarah made a face at him. "Those are two hundred thread count sheets and that comforter was a gift from a weaver friend of mine. Theyre just fine, and easier to wash."   
Jareth looked positively disgusted.   
Sarah shook her head. "I should know better than to talk to a man whos never done his own laundry." She shrugged and dropped onto her vanity stool. She pulled back the towel securing her hair and began to briskly rub it dry.   
Jareth watched her with hooded eyes, but he did not comment. Once her unruly mop was no longer dripping, Sarah went through her drawers for the bottle of hair dye shed bought earlier that week...   
Sarah turned on Jareth. "Okay, where is it?"   
"Im not telling you." Jareth informed her. "I cant stand it when you put that concoction on your hair, so Ive decided that you wont be doing it anymore."   
Sarah snorted. "That means Ill have to go out and buy another bottle."   
"You wont find any." Jareth cautioned. "Im being serious about this. If I have to steal every bottle of black hair dye in this city and buy out every manufacturer thats what Ill do."   
Sarah crossed her legs and gave Jareth a measuring look. He would do it, too. She cocked her head and let a grim smile touch her lips before she turned to survey herself in the mirror. "I wonder if I have the skin tones to go blonde?"   
Jareth stiffened. "Dont even joke about that!"   
Sarah slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles. The look on Jareths face was just priceless!   
With great dignity, Jareth rose from the bed and came to stand behind her. Sarah flinched when she felt his fingers bury themselves in her hip length locks. She felt a tingle of magic wash over her. "Jareth." She warned.   
"Shh." He whispered. "just trust me for once. I would never mar your natural beauty, I think you can believe me on that account."   
Sarah silently recalled the time hed blasted a hair dresser across the building when hed suggested that she try a shorter style. No, Jareth would never do anything of the sort.   
"Youre never going to let me forget that, are you?" Jareth mused. "you lose control just one time..."   
Sarah bit her lip and risked raising her eyes to meet the gaze of her reflection. Her hair was back to its natural dark chocolate brown except... Sarah drew a long gasp. Hed not only banished the black dye, but somehow had restored the glossy sheen that had gone with her natural hair. She touched as lock of it, and it was smooth as an otters pelt.   
"Jareth, how did you..."   
He held up a hand. "It would take too long to explain. I just... made your hair remember itself." He coiled a thick strand of it about his knuckles. "Ill never understand why your world must convince you that what you are is not enough."   
Sarah felt her eyes soften and she cast her eyes down, some of the stress from her bad day seeped out of her bones. She smiled. "Thank you, Jareth. That... you have no idea how refreshing that is to hear."   
Jareth went still for an impossibly long instant, something warm colored his eyes. "Youre welcome, Sarah. Ill say it again whenever you like." He cast his green and blue eyes down to the glossy hair entwined in his fingers. He touched the shiny stuff to his lips and purposefully made it a sensual action, with his eyes on Sarah the entire time.   
Sarahs heart did a strange thing then... it skipped a beat. She pressed a hand to her breast, Jareth seemed to be the only person who could do that to her.   
Sensing weakness, Jareth moved in for the kill... only to have Sarahs hand stop him cold, planted in the middle of his chest where the soft folds of his chest sloped open to reveal the clean lines of his muscles.   
Images of her employer danced in Sarahs mind, pudgy hands where no one would have wished them, and warm sticky breath oozing over her shoulder. Jareths grip tightened on her shoulders. Arctic wind blasted down Sarahs spine. Shed forgotten that he could sense her strong emotions.   
"Am I so repugnant to you?" Jareth whispered throatily, into her ear. His grip relaxed. "No... not me... another perhaps?" he pulled back to look into her eyes dilated with fear. His mismatched eyes were harsh bits of glittering jewels. "Who dared to touch you?"   
Sarah shook her head mutely, the images of her employer flashed unbidden through her mind.   
Jareth nodded. He released Sarah. "All is not lost." He murmured, half to himself. "Youre still in there... how do you want him killed?"   
"Old age!" Sarah snapped back.   
She was unprepared for Jareth harsh laughter, he doubled over with it. "Sarah, Sarah..." he chortled, wiped vainly at streaming eyes. "Just when I begin to think that you have no malice in you, oh! Even I wouldnt have thought that up." He snatched a crystal out of midair. The swirl of glitter that heralded the use of his magic swept up to engulf Jareth.   
As he vanished, his disembodied voice came back in an echoing chuckle. "Old age, indeed. That has possibilities."   
***   
end Chapter One   
***   
  
  
Authors note!   
This chapter is dedicated to Dawn, Deborah, Sick Little Fiend, Silver Space, and Shadow Nightshade who wrote such wonderful reviews and encouraged me to get this baby moving. This chapter would have been out yesterday, but I looked over it when I was done and was absolutely appalled with myself. I had to do it all over. I may do it again if I have another brain child, Im not really happy with it.   
Again, keep sending in those reviews! They really motivate my procrastinating self! The more reviews I get, the more Ill write for you!   
  
  



	2. In Which there is an 'Accident' and A Jo...

Author's note!  
  
This chapter is dedicated to Dawn, Deborah, Sick Little Fiend, Silver Space, and Shadow Nightshade who wrote such wonderful reviews and encouraged me to get this baby moving. This chapter would have been out yesterday, but I looked over it when I was done and was absolutely appalled with myself. I had to do it all over. I may do it again if I have another brain child, I'm not really happy with it.  
  
Again, keep sending in those reviews! They really motivate my procrastinating self! The more reviews I get, the more I'll write for you!  
  
***  
  
Chapter Two; In Which there is an 'Accident' and A Journey is Begun  
  
*Strong Language warning*  
  
Theme music: 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton  
  
***  
  
Sarah stared at the Sunday Inquirer in numb shock.  
  
"Ya should watch what ya say to that freak." Bea murmured as she gently disengaged Sarah stiffened fingers from the newspaper. The Headlines blared in big bold face print; Camco Employee Found Dead: Cause... Mummification!  
  
Bea folded the paper in half, with the offensive streamer on the inside before cosigning it to the garbage. She shook her head disparagingly. "Can't say I disagree with him though." She said over her shoulder to Sarah, who was still sitting in the same position she'd assumed when she'd read the incriminating words. Her hands were still up in front of her grasping a phantom newspaper. Bea shook her head again.  
  
"Jareth killed him!"  
  
"Yeah, sugar. You know the freak of nature for seven years, why are you surprised?" Bea asked, she leaned against the counter and crossed her ankles lazily. "I'd a done the same if you'd told me what he was doin'!"  
  
Sarah broke from her trance with an angry blush. She turned away from Bea's heated eyes. "That's why I didn't tell you!" she said. "He's... he was a nasty, subversive old son of a bitch and he deserved to go to jail, but not to die. I can't live with somebody's death on my conscience!" she left her head sink forward into her palms. Her long, now brown once more, hair fell forward to conceal her from the world around her.  
  
A transparent cigarette appeared between Bea's long slender fingers ash she lifted them to her lips. "It ain't your fault, sugar." Bea paused to take a drag. "It ain't like you went out and -told- Jerry-baby to go turn the guy into a mummy. He read your thoughts, that means different rules."  
  
Sarah watched Bea exhale a perfect smoke ring through her fingers. "I wish I could believe that, Bea. I really wish I could."  
  
Bea shrugged. "Take it up with El freak-out." she grinned nastily. "I'll be in my room if you want back up.  
  
Sarah shook her head vehemently as Bea flipped into her room off the kitchen. "No way." She told the table top. "There is no way I'm enlisting a poltergeist to help me with Jareth! That's like choosing both evils instead of the lesser one!"  
  
"I heard that!" Bea snapped irritably.  
  
Sarah made an innocent moue at Bea door. "I didn't mean it...ACK!" in lessening the blow for Bea, Sarah's eyes fell on the grandfather clock that had followed her when she'd moved out of her parents house. It was 8:20!  
  
"I'm going to be late for WORK!" she shrieked.  
  
Bea stuck the upper half of her body through the door just in time to see Sarah scramble out of the kitchen and into the main bath. "They ain't gonna open today! Crikey, your supervisor just got murdered! The police ain't even gonna let you in the building!"  
  
Sarah emerged from the bathroom already dressed in a rose colored secretary's jacket and black sheath skirt. She had a compact in hand and was frantically trying to apply mascara and walk at the same time (a futile effort, take it from one who has tried!)  
  
"You don't know Camco Corp." She griped. "Even the police lines around Mr. Benson's office wouldn't stop them, we'll have a new supervisor by noon today and he'll be wanting to know what our floor has been doing in the interim." Sarah had been through two changes of management, it was not unlike a coup de'tat. Right down to the amount of blood spilled!  
  
"This is not gonna be pretty." Sarah murmured. Her desk was right by Benson's office, not a coincidence by a long shot. The police were definitely going to want to question her, which would probably take -hours- ! After that whoever was taking over the ground floor Call Center would want to know why she hadn't been at her station, and being interrogated by police offices wouldn't be a good enough reason. "And here I thought yesterday was the day from hell, it won't be anything compared to today."  
  
"Then quit." Jareth advised her as he materialized beside her. Today he was in his more normal ensemble of dove grey pants, tight, knee high boots with equally high heels, and a loose blowing shirt of white silk that fell open to reveal his chest and his ever present crescent shaped pendant. For once, he'd lost the riding crop.  
  
Sarah gritted her teeth. "It isn't that easy! I don't earn enough on royalties yet to support myself, and besides if I ..."  
  
"You could still come underground." Jareth offered. "I'm still more than open to the suggestion."  
  
Sarah whirled on him. "Come to the Labyrinth and do what? Run the Maze again? Or maybe just live there and harass whoever you deign to toss in there? That may work for Hoggle and Ludo but I..."  
  
Jareth held up a hand in a preemptory gesture and Sarah's voice died... literally. "Actually I had a different idea in mind. You , me, and a Castle at the center of the Labyrinth beyond the Goblin City filled with little blonde and black haired children." When he noted the telling look on Sarah face he shrugged. "It was an idea... an alternative is that we play another game."  
  
Sarah gave an inelegant snort... which turned to icy dread as Bea coalesced between her and Jareth. Sarah quickly moved through Bea to make sure she didn't do anything hasty... like call up a psychic storm or start throwing furniture around. The furniture was always churlish for weeks after that happened and Sarah had enough on her plate without soothing sulky furniture.  
  
Bea shivered. "You have no idea how -repugnant- that is!"  
  
Sarah made a sharp gesture in the air, translated as. "No fighting!"  
  
Jareth shrugged and summoned a crystal. He slid it back and forth over his fingers and knuckles in that physics defying manner of his. There was a glimmer and Sarah recovered the use of her voice. "I am merely providing an alternative to spending a day being alternately harassed by your employers and the local constabulary..."  
  
"Police, Jareth." Sarah corrected irritably. "We aren't in the eighteenth century anymore. Modernize!"  
  
A small blush gathered over Jareth's pale cheeks. He muttered something about throttling someone, notably not Sarah. He banished the crystal and his riding crop appeared in its place. "As I was saying, maybe you would care for a small sporting wager..."  
  
Sarah lifted an eyebrow and Jareth coughed discreetly.  
  
"...ah... well, There are other puzzles in the Underground than my Labyrinth. The Forest of Leihaedrielle for one." He paused with a dazzling grin. "Are you in the mood for a small treasure hunt?"  
  
"Not really," Sarah said sharply. "I have to go to wo..."  
  
-bringggggggg!-  
  
Sarah glared at the phone.  
  
"That would be your boss telling you not to come into work today."  
  
Sarah shook her head. "No, they wouldn't close just for Mr. Benson..."  
  
"... there was also the small incident of that fire." Jareth drawled.  
  
Sarah froze. "What fire!"  
  
Jareth shrugged. "The fire I set, of course!"  
  
Bea stifled a chuckle. "Now why didn't I think of that?"  
  
"Who's side are you on!" Sarah cried.  
  
Bea sobered. "Your side, sugar." She said quietly. "but, as much as I hate to agree with the Faerie, he's right. Ya need to get out of all this, one day ain't gonna hurt ya. If they fire you, so what? Thangs ain't as bad as you're letting yourself think. Go, have an adventure. Ya need it, really bad."  
  
Sarah let her shoulders slump. "Et tu, Brute?" she murmured sarcastically. She sighed. "Fine! I'm outnumbered! I know when to quit!" she turned fully on Jareth. "what are the rules?"  
  
Jareth grinned. "The rules are most simple. You can use any resource at your disposal, you'll have several tools to use you can call on me for help out of a dangerous situation, and you may summon me for three hints. You will follow a trail of clues though the forest until you reach the treasure. If you get to the treasure without giving up you win, if you give up, I win. No time limits."  
  
"And the stakes?" Bea asked sharply.  
  
Jareth nodded. "That stakes are, if you win I'll set up a residence for you in the Underground. I'll even transport the furniture and your specter. You will never have to deal with the humdrum of the Aboveground again. I'll even grant you the ability to move back and forth through the worlds so you may visit your family."  
  
"That's not..." Sarah snapped down her mouth before she uttered the forbidden phrase. "That's exactly what you WANT!" she accused instead.  
  
"No really." Jareth chortled. "you haven't heard what will happen if I win!" he leaned forward so that no more than a breathe of air separated him from Sarah. "If I win, I'll do every thing I promised before, only you won't have your own private home. You'll be in the Castle beyond the Goblin City. You'll be my Queen."  
  
Sarah's voice died in her throat once more, although this time it had nothing to do with Jareth's influence.  
  
"Sarah..." Bea fluttered down close to her ear. "Remember this for me, 'what's the point in living if you can't feel like you're alive?'"  
  
Sarah's decision was made. "Agreed."  
  
The world wrenched sideways.  
  
***  
  
Sarah blinked, and blinked, and then blinked again.  
  
She was standing on a grassy slope overlooking a dark forest. The sky overhead was a deep inky black and was dotted with a thousand tiny lights. Her savvy business lady suit was gone and replaced with form fitting black leather trousers and knee high black lace up boots with sensible low heels. She wore a deep green blouse under a woven leather vest. There was a black rucksack at her feet with a black bow beside it . When she moved she felt a quiver bounce on her hip. Apparently her archery lessons had not gone unnoticed by Jareth.  
  
On closer inspection of herself she found a pair of thick leather gloves, also black, tucked into her chunky belt. The belt was covered in small pouches and such, when she touched them she felt the tingle of Jareth's magic. There was also a bowie knife (no pun intended) strapped to her leg.  
  
Inside the pouches there were sturdy carved wood bottle containing medicinal herbs with precise instructions inscribed on their sides. The was also a large amount of gold, silver, and copper coins secreted about herself.  
  
"Well, he's thorough. I gotta give him that." she murmured. "I better see what her packed for me."  
  
Sarah fell into an easy lotus, courtesy of her numerous tai-bo lessons. She'd originally started the lessons as a free trial, and found she'd liked them so much that she kept going even after she was too advanced to do much more than spar with her former sensei.  
  
The rucksack had a bedroll and some sort of... tarpaulin rolled up on top of it that needed to be removed before opening the sack. Sarah carefully set them aside for further investigation later before moving onto the contents of her bag.  
  
There was the regular provisions that she usually gave her own fantasy characters. Dried jerky, small, single serving sections of cheese sealed in wax, a few travelers loaves, (gag me, I've eaten that stuff. It's hard as a rock with about just as much flavor)... all in all, about a weeks supplies. Two if she was prudent.  
  
There was also two spare knives, one of which went on her belt along with the first. Further examination found a small pouch of arrow heads, about sixty. Presumably they were for if she failed to recover her arrows and needed new ones.  
  
Sarah found two more green shirts, one blue, and another black shirt. The black one was beaded and fringed with slitted bell sleeves. There was another set of trousers, a pair of light cloth half boots with decorative buckles, and another enameled belt.  
  
"Of course Jareth would never consider himself prepared unless he was ready to dress up at a moments notice." Sarah mused. "Why would he do differently for me?" Apparently it hadn't occurred to Jareth that Sarah was not nearly so vain as himself, still. It would have been a dress...  
  
Sarah carefully returned the things to the rucksack, she made sure to pack the food so it wouldn't be damaged. When she was re-tying the bedroll and tarpaulin (cape she realized later) she noticed Jareth's riding crop laying on the ground with a small white scroll tied to the handle.  
  
"Subtle, Jareth." Sarah muttered as she tucked the crop into her belt and opened the scroll.  
  
"Here is your first clue (. Look for a white horse."  
  
Sarah folded the paper and tucked it into one of the pouches. "If you want to ride, don't ride the white horse..." she warbled off an old eighties song. Suddenly she blinked and wrestled the rucksack around... sure enough, there was symbol of Aquarius embossed onto the flap on the bag. "What the hell is that? Jareth's symbol or something... no..." Jareth's symbol was the sign of eternity, or looked at another way, an owl's eyes. So what was the symbol doing there? Sarah was an Aries (if you haven't noticed by now.)  
  
Sarah shook her head, she'd figure it our as she came to it. She wouldn't solve Jareth's puzzles by sitting out side the forest. Leihaedrielle's forest beckoned. It was time to go.  
  
***  
  
Not as far away as you might think, Jareth sat in his throne room watching Sarah forge valiantly ahead towards the forest. A small smile turned up the edges of his mouth and he watched his future queen.  
  
"Well, she IS a looker. Isn't she?"  
  
Jareth banished the crystal and shot a glare at the speaker that should have reduced him into a small greasy spot on the immaculate marbled floor. He must have missed. "She is and she's mine."  
  
The speaker held up his hands. "And I am to make sure she survives, I understand completely my liege." He swept into what by anyone else would have been a humble bow. 'Had he been anyone else' is the key phrase.  
  
"I am trusting you, Gawain. Don't make me regret it." Jareth cautioned. "there are worse things than the bog of eternal stench in the underground. Don't forget that."  
  
Gawain nodded. "The Lady Sarah's life shall come before my own in all things, I swear it upon my very name." ... too much depends on this one woman's life for me to do otherwise. He thought silently, I wonder if King Jareth knows just how high the stakes we're playing for -really- are?  
  
***  
  
End chapter two  
  
***  
  
AU- Gawain's gonna be fun. He'll be almost more annoying than Jareth is! 


	3. In which Bea Gets a Vistor and Sarah get...

***  
  
Chapter Three: In Which Bea gets a Visitor and Sarah gets a Lesson  
  
Theme Music; Beautiful Stranger by Madonna  
  
***  
  
At first, Sarah had wondered about the wisdom of being set down at the edge of the forest in the middle of the night. This was a Fae forest and probably just chock full of night dangers.  
  
Already she'd glimpsed disembodied lights bobbing their way throughout the forest; Will o-the Wisps unless she'd missed her guess. There had been two, count' em, shadowy strangers beckoning her off the sketchy path muttering something about a badly injured brothers. Considering they'd both been saying the same -exact- line she ignored them. On passing lake a magnificent black horse had surged out of the water and stood proudly beside the path, practically begging to be ridden. Sarah trudged on, ignoring the Kelpie.  
  
That had been hours ago by Sarah's internal clock, but the starry night sky over head showed no signs of day break. Maybe it was always night there?  
  
Sarah stopped to readjust the rucksack straps so they would stop biting into her shoulders.  
  
"You're a bit more than I expected."  
  
Sarah whirled towards the sound of the voice. A tall man lounged casually against one of the huge trees near the path she'd been following. He was about a head taller than Sarah, with a lean, almost whippy build. He had long dark brown hair that he'd caught back with clever little pewter clasp. He was dressed in dark brown leather pants with half height boots lined with fringe that matched that on his long vest. His loose white shirt, reminiscent of Jareth, had knots of ribbons at the shoulders that fell down in cheerful waves to his elbows. A worn, but serviceable sword was strapped to his belt along with a pair of throwing knives and what looked to be a blow dart tube.  
  
In his long tapered fingers he held a carved wood flute decorated with more ribbons to match his shirt. A rucksack like Sarah's own lay by his sensibly booted feet with a dark green cloak tossed over it.  
  
"Why are you, and why are you bothering me?" Sarah snapped, slightly irritably. Walking through a creepy forest at night with no clue as to where you were going did wonders for anyone's temper. Just wonders.  
  
"Feisty, I can see why Jareth likes you."  
  
The man stepped closer and Sarah was able to see him a little bit better in the ambiguous light that seemed to shroud the path. His chiseled features seemed... familiar somehow. She couldn't put her finger on where, but Sarah -knew- she'd seen this strange man before... or someone very much like him.  
  
"My name is Gawain." He said politely. "I am to be your guide... here, I believe this is what you're looking for." He reached into his vest and withdrew a small charcoal outline sketch... of a horse. The paper made the stallion white.  
  
"You're the white horse?" Sarah asked incredulously.  
  
"Indeed I am!" Gawain blew a short flurry of melodious notes on his flute. "I also have your next clue!"  
  
Sarah's lips twisted in grim humor. "Okay, let's have it."  
  
Gawain chuckled and shook the no-no finger. "Not yet! First we should get out of the Night Ring. The outermost edge of Leihaedrielle is the most dangerous, We'll continue your quest in the Sunset Strip." He tossed his head in a none too subtle gesture indicating that they should continue.  
  
"Wait!" Sarah huffed. "Why should I trust you?"  
  
Gawain chuckled as he lifted his rucksack. "Well, allow me to put this the way your dwarf friend did once... what choice have ya got?" He did a fair imitation of Hoggle's gruff no-nonsense tones and startled a laugh out of Sarah.  
  
She sighed and caught herself on a tiny feminine giggle, something she thought lost to her forever. "Can't argue with that twisted little bit of logic. Well, let's go."  
  
Gawain met her strides easily. "I knew you'd see it my way."  
  
***  
  
Rap! Rap!  
  
Bea floated through the door of her bedroom without waiting for the door to open for her. She glared at the front door in annoyance.  
  
"Who in the dang-blamed blue blazes is hour?" she muttered to herself as she floated up to the door to peek out of the spy hole. It couldn't be Sarah, the door would have just unlocked and let her in, the same went for any of the neighbors. There wasn't a soul in the complex who didn't know about Bea.  
  
The was a tall, dark man standing outside of the apartment. A very attractive one at that, Bea noticed in wry amusement. He was only slightly taller she she'd been before she'd left the mortal plane with dark chocolate skin and eyes to match.  
  
"Can I help you?" Bea asked over the small intercom Sarah had installed for Bea. Like everything else in the apartment, it had shortly developed sentience and pressed its own buttons. Very handy when you had no substance except a very strong telekinetic talent... but that was more suited to throwing couches that fine, delicate things like pressing buttons.  
  
The man winced. "I'm sorry, I'm looking for Sarah William's apartment?" He had one of those deep, rich baritones that was just heaven to listen to. Bea sighed, -Now- she found a guy with a voice like that! Why not twenty five years ago?  
  
Bea frowned. "Ya got the right place, can I take a message? You might say she's... stepped out for a bit."  
  
The African man on the other side of the door frowned minutely. More in annoyance than any personality flaw. "I'm sorry to be calling on you so late..."  
  
Ain't a problem when you don't sleep no more, baby. Bea thought dryly. I ain't got no qualms about listening to your voice, you could put James Earl Jones outta business!  
  
"... but I'm her new supervisor at Camco Corp. and I was in the area and wanted to check and see if she was all right, since she didn't call in today. I understand she and my predecessor... ah, had some problems between the two of them and I'd like to see if she was..."  
  
The door suddenly swung in and Bea wasted no time in popping into the kitchen before Mr. James Earl Jones the third saw a see through woman at the door. She silently cursed the damn front door, and made a note to have a good long heart to heart with it.  
  
He stepped in, cautiously. "Ma'am?" he went very still. "What is the..." his dark brown gaze swept the room, settling on every piece of furniture in the place. "Madre de Dios... everything in here is..."  
  
"Alive?" Bea asked quietly. She didn't take a chance on going visible... but there was something about this guy, she just couldn't worry.  
  
"Ma'am? Where are you?" he swallowed. "Am I talking to a ghost?"  
  
"Something like that." Bea murmured. "Poltergeist to be exact, been so for twenty years."  
  
Amazingly enough, the man relaxed. "Oh, for a moment there... a ghost, I can handle ghosts." He cleared his throat. "Please, could you come in here... or at least let me see you?"  
  
If she'd still had a body, she would have blinked. Maybe... Bea took a chance and bent the light waves around her presence so that Whoever he was, he could see her. "My name's Beatrice. Call me Bea."  
  
"Malcolm... Malcolm Aramus." He started to offer her his hand... but blushed halfway through. He started to retract it, but seemed to think better again...  
  
Bea chuckled, if she didn't say something, he might keep moving his hand back and forth all night. "Don't worry about it, Mr. Aramus. Sarah is going to be on an extended leave, she might not come back at all." Bea paused with a slightly nasty smile. "In fact I hope she doesn't, she doesn't deserve what your company puts her through. That old bastard who died harassed her, and systematically shorted her pay, and her benefits! Where she is, is where she belongs!"  
  
Malcolm flinched. "I've been going through Benson's papers all day... I know what he was up to. I was going to offer my condolences to Ms. Williams and offer to reimburse her for the damages..."  
  
"So she doesn't sure the pants off your company?" Bea guessed.  
  
"Now don't put words in my mouth!" Malcolm gritted out. "I saw that there had been an injustice done, would you have expected me to just ignore it? I'm not the bad guy here!"  
  
Bea shrugged flippantly. "Whatever, what I want to know is why the apartment suddenly let you in? And how you knew, just by looking that the furniture was sentient."  
  
Malcolm flinched. "It's a... family talent. We always called it the shining, and that was before Stephen king wrote that novel! I can see things, sometimes. My sisters hear people thoughts... I'm better with places and dead things.. er, ghosts I mean."  
  
Bea cocked her head. "Ain't that something? Well, Mr. Aramus. Now that you're here an you know about the peculiarities of the place what do you plan on doing? I hope, for your sake, that it isn't call a tabloid and make some quick cash." She paused to let her ever present aura turn a menacing yellow-green. "That movie wasn't all fiction you know. I can manage some stuff that would turn your hair white."  
  
Malcolm bristled. "Why in hell would I do that? I'd just be embarrassing myself and you while I was at it, I got better things to do than jeopardize my career by making a fool of myself!" he frowned. "I came here to check on Ms. Williams, if she's not here then I'll go."  
  
Bea shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat, feel free to drop by again... when you don't have an agenda and it ain't 11 fricken' thirty."  
  
She watched the tall man storm out, the door shut quietly behind him. She snorted quietly and looked at the apartment around her. "You like him, don't you?"  
  
Incriminating silence.  
  
"Well!" she huffed. "can't say I see why! Stuck up little brat... I got shoes with better manners..." ... but still... he hadn't run screaming into the night. He and Sarah had been the only ones Bea had ever encountered who could deal with her being as she was.  
  
"Crikey." She muttered. "I really put my foot in it, didn't I?" she shook her head. "I can't imagine but what my Mama wouldn't have said." She shrugged. He'd be back... sooner or later.  
  
She'd apologize then.  
  
***  
  
Night gave way into day.  
  
Sarah looked back over her shoulder, it was still night a few meters behind her, but directly over head the sky was all warm and pink like a perfect sunset... only without the sun.  
  
"Is this what you meant by 'Sunset Strip' and 'Night Ring'?" she asked Gawain, who was waiting for her a little further up the road.  
  
He nodded. "The underground plays by its own rules, unlike the Aboveground where conformity is the norm. I suppose you remember how the time of day seemed to differ wherever you happened to be in the Labyrinth? No? Well, Leihaedrielle is no different. The closer you get to the center, the brighter and closer to dawn it will be."  
  
Sarah frowned and resumed walking, matching Gawain's long pace. "But it was day outside of the Labyrinth when I was there, then night, then evening..."  
  
Gawain shrugged. "Well, different parts of the Labyrinth are at different cycles. Leihaedrielle keeps mostly regular, but there have been... anomalies known to happen. Especially when the Sorcerers have been really going at it."  
  
"Sorcerers?"  
  
Gawain blinked. "That's right, you wouldn't know about that." he cleared his throat. "Well, apart from the Fae, there are two kinds of Magic users in the Underground. They aren't as powerful, but they're a hell of a lot more organized. The Fae just bicker and squabble a lot, and I suppose that is for the best."  
  
He paused to sigh. "I suppose you're aware of the theory that energy can never be created nor destroyed?"  
  
Sarah nodded. "Yes, I learned about that in chemistry. The Law of Conservation, isn't it?"  
  
"Yes, it has a different name here but that works just as well. Well, the main difference between the two, Sorcerers and Druids that is, is the manner in which they use that energy. A druid takes in the energy, or magic, from the natural world around him and uses it in such a way that it is purified and enriched... a bit like fertilizing your farm after every use. That method is very tedious and difficult. Vise Versa, the Sorcerers take in that same energy yet leave it unfit for use by anyone else afterwards. That form of magic is very easy and conversely more popular with the miscreants who want to expend the least amount of effort themselves no matter what the cost to others."  
  
"So what you're saying is that when Sorcerers have been using a lot of magic, the pollution affects the way the forest appears?" Sarah hazarded.  
  
"You catch on quick. In fact, Druids have a very hard time cleaning up after Sorcerers. They're at war all the time. Luckily for druids, the Sorcerers are constantly poisoning themselves with their own filth. They burn out very quickly." He paused to grin. "A prudent Druid will never die because as they renew the energy inside themselves, they're doing the same to their own bodies."  
  
Sarah blinked. "Damn. I can't see why a Sorcerer would exchange eternal life for... well, that."  
  
"It's like I said before. A sorcerer wants results NOW! Hard work for eventual rewards isn't something that they favor." He shrugged. "As for... That. Well, don't people in the Aboveground do much the same thing? They breathe smoke, poison the very air their children breath, take poisons into their own bodies just for a few short moments of pleasure." He shrugged. "Who can say why people do harmful things to themselves and to others."  
  
***  
  
End Chapter Three  
  
*** 


	4. In Which There is Much Plot Development

AU- This one goes out to everyone who's been reviewing this story. It really keeps me going! Beware typos, once I finish this sucker, I'll go back through and polish it up but right now I'm more concerned with keeping the story moving at a pace considerate to the reader. I know I don't like being kept weeks and weeks for a new chapter, it adds to the suspense I know. I'll try and keep writing fast so everyone won't go into withdrawal (Yes, I'm talking to you Deborah!)  
  
***  
  
Chapter Four: In Which There is Much Meaningful Conversation and Plot Development  
  
***  
  
Sarah chewed on her lower lips, listening to Gawain talk about her world right now... she was really beginning to wonder why she'd wanted to stay.  
  
"Now, take you for instance..." Gawain continued. "You're a different sort of Mortal. You're trying to fight your way out of there. I'm sure you can see where I'm coming from?"  
  
Sarah winced and nodded. She saw, she saw it too well indeed. "Yes. I was... drowning I think. I used to dream a lot when I was young. I wanted to be a famous actress... like my mother. I lost that somewhere..." she wrapped her arms around herself. "I can't remember when..."  
  
Gawain nodded sympathetically and would have done something like hug her... but he knew Jareth. Doing such a thing was tantamount to suicide. "Jareth told me you are a Bard?" he tried instead. "I am one too."  
  
Sarah blinked stupidly. "Huh?" she hazarded. "I don't sing..."  
  
"A storyteller." Gawain clarified. "A person who creates stories and tells them to others."  
  
"Oh!" comprehension dawned. "You mean my novels!" Sarah cried.  
  
"You -whats-?"  
  
Sarah blushed. "I write stories down on paper and give them to someone who makes a lot of copies for people to read. They pay for the copies and I get a percentage of every book sold."  
  
Gawain frowned. "Sounds damned impersonal to me, if not impractical. What if someone doesn't know how to read?"  
  
Sarah shrugged. "We don't have that problem where I come from. Everyone is taught to read, and those who can't have either bigger problems or just don't want to extend themselves... much like your sorcerers."  
  
Gawain nodded. "That I can understand, maybe your world isn't as bad as I thought it was."  
  
"Close, but not -as- bad." Sarah agreed. "It does have it's high and lows, but doesn't every place?"  
  
"I think that we are going to get along, Sarah Williams, I really do." Gawain chortled. "I really do."  
  
"Then how about my next clue?" Sarah implored.  
  
Gawain grinned. "Of course, we're looking for the sigil embossed on your rucksack. Jareth has assigned that symbol to you, it's as good as your name now."  
  
Sarah rolled her eyes. "I'm not even an Aquarius, I'm an Aries."  
  
"In your world, dear." Gawain corrected her gently. "The Underground dances to a different melody. Here, you're an Aquarius. Thus your sigil."  
  
"Gee, I hope it isn't another person." Sarah mused. "If all my clues were by word of mouth, that would be awkward."  
  
Gawain shrugged. "There's a village over the rise. I suggest we go there for a rest. It's been a long walk and some hot food would be appreciated."  
  
Sarah hazarded a small smile. "I hope they have a hot bath there. It would be nice to soak out some of the sore spots."  
  
Gawain grinned. "Of course they do, I happen to be on the greatest of terms with the Inn keep of the Boar's Head! I'm sure he'd be glad to give us whatever we like!"  
  
***  
  
Sarah barely dodged a stone ware mug. The raving red-haired maniac who'd thrown it thankfully hadn't noticed her. Gawain wasn't so fortunate, if anything he was the source of the woman's fury.  
  
The Bard was currently cornered by who Sarah assumed was the Innkeeper. She was an astoundingly small woman with red hair as bright as a new minted penny with eyes the fresh green of new leaves. She was dressed in a slightly worn yet well mended and clean homespun dress. She wore a clean white apron over it tied about the waits with a cheery blue sash embroidered with tiny yellow flowers. She was also throwing just about anything she could get her tiny hands on at Gawain, who had dodged them all so far.  
  
"I'd stand back, if I was you Missy." One of the patrons, an old man with a shock of white hair and a soldier's uniform cautioned her. "The Bard's been gone a long time and Jesse's blood is up. No doubt she's decided he's been cuckolding her."  
  
Sarah blinked. "Are they married?"  
  
The old man shrugged. "As much as the Bard is to anything or anyone. I suppose that's what keeps him coming back here month after month. He's got the wandering feet, mind you. give him a moment and he'll put that silver tongue of his to good use. You just take a seat."  
  
He pulled out a chair at his own table and Sarah gratefully sat down. From the looks of things over on the other side of the tavern, she'd be having a long wait.  
  
"So what brings you to Thistledown?" the old man asked her as he took his own seat.  
  
"I'm on a... quest you might say." She said absently as she took in the rest of the tavern. The town outside had been vaguely reminiscent of the Goblin city only in a human sized scale and built in wood and thatch instead of slate and stone. The only paths were the ones worn by feet over years and years of inhabitation.  
  
The Boar's Head was clean and bright with white washed walls and embroidered table cloths on the seven or so round tables scattered along the walls and the floor. Each table seated about four and most of them were full.  
  
A girl in a bright cheap skirt and embroidered bodice made her way through the throng, easily dodging a few playful pinches and slaps. She stopped at Sarah's table and gave a nod to the old man. "Good evening Captain!" she chirped.  
  
"G'day Molly." He answered gruffly. "could I get another pint?"  
  
"Of course." She said warmly and turned to Sarah. "What can I get for you love?"  
  
Sarah smiled. "I just came through the Night Ring, do you have anything..."  
  
"That isn't cold trail food?" Molly intuited. "Of course, love! There a nice mutton stew in a bread trencher and comes with cheese, white or yellow, or a half-chicken with some of the root vegetables cooked till they're soft and that comes with a few slices of bread, brown, white, and black." She paused for breath. "The mutton stew is three coppers and the half-chicken is four."  
  
"Get the stew!" the Captain whispered conspiratorially. "The chicken's greasy and the root vegetables are just mush!"  
  
Molly made a face. "Traitor!" she sighed. "He is right though, love. The mutton's better and the stews just been finished a moment ago."  
  
"The stew then. I don't suppose you know where I could get a hot bath and maybe a place to sleep for a while?"  
  
Molly made a sympathetic moue. "Of course, you must not have stopped to rest in the Night Ring. Nasty place, that. Of course dear, the rooms up the stairs are a half silver a night and a bath is included just grab a towel from your room when its free and hang up the privacy sign."  
  
Sarah nodded. "A full silver for two rooms then?"  
  
"Two rooms?" Molly blinked in confusion until... "Oh! You're here with Gawain?" she nodded to where Gawain had succeeded in getting Jesse to stop throwing things and was talking to her in a low soothing tone.  
  
"Yes, a friend of mine hired him as a guide for me." Sarah clarified, not wanting to start a rumor and disturb Jesse.  
  
"Ah!" Molly nodded approvingly. "you're friend chooses well, I'll wager that the Bard knows Leihaedrielle like the back of his hand. You'll be in safe hands." She smiled at Sarah again. "I'll just go put in your order and get the keys for your rooms..." she held out a hand expectantly.  
  
Sarah took the hint and doled out a silver coin and three coppers which went into a small padlocked wooden box on Molly's hip. Molly bobbed a small curtsey and whisked off to the kitchen.  
  
Sarah took another glance at Gawain. Apparently his 'silver tongue' had done its work. The red-haired Jesse was showering his face with kisses. She shook her head disparagingly, if she ever got into a relationship like that she sincerely hoped someone would just shoot her.  
  
The captain followed her gaze. "Humph. Record time too." He chortled. HE smiled and ran a blue veined hand through his wild white hair. Sarah froze.  
  
Drawn in black henna across his knuckles was the two rippled lines that symbolized Aquarius.  
  
The captain stilled his hand and glanced at his knuckles. "You're the young Lady Lord Jareth asked me to look for?"  
  
Sarah grinned. "yes! I am Sarah Williams!"  
  
The captain put his hand down and shook his head. "I rather thought so, your clothing has the look of Jareth around it. I suppose he supplied it?"  
  
"Among other things." Sarah sighed. "Do you have my next clue?"  
  
The captain nodded. "Indeed I do, little Lady. The Goblin King told me to tell you to 'Go to the Cloak and Dagger in Thornesbury and to ask for RoseBud'."  
  
"Thornesbury, eh?" Sarah frowned. "Is that in the Sunset Strip?"  
  
The Captain shook his head. "No, it's all the way out into the Day Break."  
  
Sarah made a face. "How far?"  
  
"I'd say the trip would be able four hour's walk." The Captain shrugged. "But with Gawain it could be less."  
  
"Sarah!"  
  
She turned to Gawain who had his arm around Jesse's waist and was leading her over to the table where she and the Captain were. Jesse was watching her cautiously. Sarah could practically feel herself being weighed and measured.  
  
"This is the Lady I was telling you about, love." Gawain said cheerfully. "The Goblin King himself hired me as her guide!"  
  
Jesse snorted. "I'll believe that when I hear it from her own lips, I don't trust you! The truth has too broad a definition for you sometimes."  
  
"Hello, you are Jesse?" Sarah ventured.  
  
Jesse nodded, sending her red curls bobbing. "I am, you are?"  
  
"Sarah, Sarah Williams." Sarah held out a hand that Jesse shook firmly, revealing a strength that Sarah wouldn't have paired with her slight frame.  
  
Jesse seated herself across from Sarah with a barely polite nod in the Captain's direction. "What is this quest you're on? Tell me everything, I want to hear it from your own lips."  
  
Sarah blinked and glanced at Gawain. "Is it safe? I mean, talking about it in the open?"  
  
Gawain shrugged. "Couldn't hurt."  
  
She turned back to Jesse. "All right then. I'm from the Aboveground , Jareth and I made a wager..."  
  
Jesse gasped when Sarah used Jareth's first name, but she ignored it. "If I can follow his trail of clues to the very end without giving up he'll arrange for me to live in the Underground on my own terms. If I give up, its under his terms." She shrugged. "That's about it. Gawain had my first clue, and the Captain had my second."  
  
Gawain blinked. "You found it already? Where? Where are we going next?"  
  
"Thornesbury it seems."  
  
***  
  
End Chapter Four  
  
***  
  
AU, okay this one's kinda crappy, I know. I'm kinda nervous because of this up and coming surgery of mine. I'm getting my wisdom teeth taken out, All four at once. Everyone has been telling me about when they got there, and it hasn't been helping much. I hope it didn't affect the story too much, I hate it when innocent bystanders get hurt!  
  
Well, I'm going to try and put out all the chapters I can before Monday. I'll be kind of out of it until Tuesday, or so I'm told and I don't want to leave any of you hanging.  
  
D.D. 


	5. In which the Villain Finally makes and A...

AU- Let's kick this up a notch! Wa Bam!  
  
(yes, I watch too much Emeril!)  
  
***  
  
Chapter Five: In Which the Villain Finally Makes an Appearance  
  
Theme music: Suerte (Whenever Wherever) by Shakita  
  
***  
  
"Here you are Love!"  
  
Molly deposited a trencher of dark drown lumpy gravy in front of Sarah. A wooden plate with a square of creamy yellow cheese followed.  
  
"Thank you Molly." Sarah murmured as she fumbled in her 'utility' belt for the small wooden spoon she remembered spotting on her earlier inspection.  
  
The tavern had pretty much cleared out. Apparently it filled up everyday around noon when people were stopping by for a beer on their ways home. Gawain and Jesse had vanished off to somewhere. (winkwinknudgenudge)  
  
"Mind if I sit?"  
  
Sarah nodded and started in on the mutton stew. Molly watched Sarah eat in silence for a while with her chin propped up on the heel of her hand.  
  
"Is it true that the Goblin King is in love with you?" she asked finally.  
  
Sarah choked on a chunk of mutton and Molly leapt up to pound her on the back.  
  
"W-what?" Sarah cried, trying to wipe the tears from her streaming eyes.  
  
"Well, the Bard told us that King Jareth is madly in love with you and set up this whole 'Game' of yours to get you closer to him." Molly explained.  
  
Sarah swallowed the insubordinate piece of meat and set down her eating utensil. "Well, I wouldn't know about that..." she demurred.  
  
Liar! Cried the little voice in the back of her head. Why else would he have hung around for so long? Seven years was a long time, even for the Fae!  
  
Sarah was sure that a blush was staining her cheeks. "... you see, he's probably just ... ah, interested in me because I beat the Labyrinth..."  
  
Molly's hands flew up to her mouth. "Oh my Moon and Stars! He's serious about you then!" she cried. "Don't you know what the Labyrinth was for?"  
  
Sarah shook her head. "I thought it was to defend the Goblin City?"  
  
Molly shook her head vehemently. "Why would King Jareth need to defend just one part of his Kingdom? He rules the entire Underground! No, the Labyrinth was constructed as a test for mortals!" Molly pressed her fingers to her temple. "Oh dear, maybe I should tell you the story from the beginning."  
  
"What story?"  
  
Molly sighed. "You might not like this... but King Jareth has been searching for a Bride on the Aboveground for several thousands of years now. How did you get to the Labyrinth?"  
  
Sarah flushed. "I read a storybook and I... I wished my baby brother away..."  
  
Molly nodded. "That story is actually a spell, one that grants the speaker the ability to summon the Goblin King. It can only be used by a young woman, more specifically a Dreamer."  
  
Sarah felt her face grow still. "Let me guess, he then makes those girls run the Labyrinth and if they fail..."  
  
"... he returns them and whoever they wished away to the Aboveground with no more than dreams of their stay." Molly finished.  
  
Sarah blinked, that hadn't been the answer she'd been expecting. "So he doesn't really steal children and turn them into goblins?"  
  
"Good heavens, no!" Molly laughed until tears streamed from her eyes. "Do you have any idea what is involved in transformation magic?" at Sarah's mute shrugged Molly sighed. "Well, I don't know all the particulars but it's difficult enough that the King would never do it so casually as at a Mortal's whim. I'm sure King Jareth has better things to spend his time on than stealing mortal babies."  
  
Sarah KNEW she was blushing now. "Molly... could you tell me everything you can about how the Underground works? I have a feeling that I might have been making an idiot of myself..."  
  
***  
  
It was much later that night, or rather the time of day when the water clock in the tavern had rung a bell and Jesse had draped thick black curtains over the windows to block out the ever present light, when Sarah finally made her way to that much anticipated bath.  
  
The bathing room was small, just large enough to hold the tall Japanese style bath. It was about chin height and made of some highly polished dark hardwood and had a small furnace going beneath it to keep the water nice and steamy.  
  
Sarah lost no time in shedding her leathers and clambering into the blessed thing. She scrubbed off every trace of trail dust she could find on herself.  
  
"Sarah."  
  
She stopped in midscrub as Jareth smooth slippery voice reached her ears. Slender finely boned fingers grasped her shoulders before she could turn around. She tried anyway but an impenetrable strength held her in place.  
  
"Jareth?"  
  
A low chuckle answered her. "Close, but not quite..."  
  
Then all at once the slender finely boned hands shoved her beneath the water.  
  
***  
  
NO! HELP! JARETH! GAWAIN!  
  
Gawain's flute fell from nerveless fingers. Jesse caught it with practiced ease.  
  
"Love, what's the..." she was left talking to air when Gawain jerked the flute from her hands and went barreling up the stairs as if all the demons of hell were at his heels.  
  
***  
  
BEA!  
  
There was a sudden explosion of psychic activity in Manhattan. Many people claimed they could hear a voice, that of an African American woman many claimed, yelling things. Weeks later when police psychics managed to trace the source they found it had emanated from an abandoned apartment.  
  
Everyone agreed on one thing, the woman had been calling someone named Jareth and another named Malcolm. Shortly after, it became public knowledge that a young employee of Camco Corp. by the name of Malcolm Aramus had disappeared along with several members of his immediate family.  
  
They were never heard from again.  
  
***  
  
Sarah accidentally swallowed a lungful of water before her old life guarding instincts flooded back. She shut her mouth and ignored the panic instinct.  
  
She took a firm grip on her attackers wrists and, bracing her feet at the edges of the tub, shoved up with the full strength of her legs.  
  
She heard muffled curses as her head cleared the surface of the water. She felt something hard smack into the back of her head... it felt like a nose. Her attacker shoved her away, and in the process overbalanced the tub sending its contents and Sarah tumbling over onto the floor.  
  
Sarah ducked her head and rolled over onto her stomach where she preceded to vomit up the water she'd breathed. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see a tall man with short cropped platinum hair cradling his nose gingerly. He looked down to her with stormy gray eyes filled past brimming with utter hatred.  
  
"Bitch!" he spat, and lowered his crooked hands as if to go for her throat.  
  
He would have too, if Jareth hadn't materialized between them. Suddenly the room was a lot smaller, or there was just a lot more of Jareth. He seemed to have become ten feet tall and he was glowing with an aura that screamed FURY! To Sarah's oxygen deprived mind he looked like a raging god!  
  
"Cain!" he bellowed "You dare lay a hand on my consort!"  
  
The attacker, Cain rather, spat at Jareth and scrambled to the door only to find his escape blocked by Gawain, who next to Jareth's divine wrath was a sort of avenging Angel.  
  
The Bard lift his flute his lips and blew a few short notes that the ear almost bled to hear. Cain screamed, this time in pain. He doubled over and glared at Sarah, an unintelligible mantra already at his blood flecked lips.  
  
"I'll come for you again, witch!" he hissed as his form vanished in a swirl of black ash.  
  
"Sarah!"  
  
Sarah heard her name torn from two... no three throats. Jareth made it to her first. He grasped her arms and a pulse of warmth shot through her, banishing the cold and confusion.  
  
"Are you all right, beloved?"  
  
Sarah nodded weakly. "Yes." she whispered.  
  
"Thank your Sacrificed God." Jareth muttered as he wrapped her in his cloak and cradled her close to his body, warming her and concealing her modesty. She was dimly aware of Gawain telling Jesse to unlock her room.  
  
"Can't" Sarah murmured. "I'm pagan."  
  
Jareth lifted her with... frightening ease. "Well, that certainly explains a lot. I never have been able to attract the attention of a proper Christian lamb. One wonders if their God protect them from such as I?" he shrugged. "I believe you are done with your bath?" at Sarah's weak nod he chuckled and eyed the cracked wooden tub. "That's good, it's certainly done with you. I just can't let you bathe unsupervised, can I?"  
  
"Never stopped you before." Sarah groused.  
  
"No, it hasn't... mind your head now." Jareth held her at an angle so he wouldn't bump her head as her carried her to her room. "Do you know who it was that attacked you?"  
  
"You called him Cain, and I saw that he looked a lot like you only his hair was shorter and his eyes were the same color." Sarah answered obediently. "Other than that I've never seen him, hear of him, or cared before now."  
  
Jesse opened the door to Sarah's rented room for Jareth and pulled back the blankets before backing out of the room maintaining a respectful silence the whole time. Sarah knew better, one look into those green eyes and she could see the questions practically spilling out, but Jesse had better manners than that. She'd wait until Jareth was gone (good luck with that!) and (hopefully) until Sarah was feeling better.  
  
"Then he's using you to hurt me." Jareth muttered as he tucked the bed sheets up around Sarah's chin. He stood back up with an indecipherable look in his eyes.  
  
"The spell I cast on you should speed your recovery..." he held up a hand to still her protests. "I know you feel fine, and I felt you fighting Cain while I was coming to you. You did well, but he still managed to hurt you. You'll be ready to continue your journey in the morning... I'd prefer you to stay here for a few days while I take care of Cain, but I know you better than that. You're probably already champing at the bit."  
  
Sarah shrugged and rolled her eyes, careful not to reveal too much of her nudity to Jareth. He'd been distracted before, but right now was another story. "Oh, I dunno." She said. "I guess I could stay around here for a while if it would make you feel better."  
  
Jareth blinked. "Sarah, are you feeling quite yourself?" he asked worriedly. "My spell is working, isn't it?"  
  
Sarah blew a raspberry at him. "I'm fine!" she cried. "I'm just..." she shrugged again. "That was really close, Jareth. I'm not fifteen anymore and there's no time limit on this game. I'd feel safer if I didn't have El- psycho breathing down my neck. Who is he anyway?"  
  
Jareth frowned. "I'm wondering if it's safe for you to know?"  
  
Sarah made a face. "Who nearly got drowned by the bastard? He'll be gunning for me whether I know about him or not. I've got a right to know."  
  
Jareth shook his head and sunk into a nearby chair. "It's my own fault." He muttered to himself. "I wanted a woman who could keep me on my toes... well, now I've got one." He sighed and leaned forward with his fingers laced together.  
  
"Well, Sarah-love. This is a very long and personal story, most certainly not bedtime material."  
  
"Tell me any way."  
  
He shook his head again, sending his spiky hair flying out in all direction. "Cain, is my half brother."  
  
***  
  
End Chapter Five  
  
***  
  
AU- I'm Back! And earlier than expected too! Thanks to everyone who told me such encouraging wisdom teeth stories. They were what I was telling myself as they put me out. Actually, they don't hurt much more than they did when they were just impacted with the added bonus of the fact that the pain will eventually go away!  
  
So here I am, out of school for another day and with all the chocolate milkshakes my little heart could want. Life is good, so I decided to say thank you for all your comforting sentiments by putting my time off to good use and putting out another chapter.  
  
If anyone is even mildly offended by the fact that I made Sarah a pagan, please don't be. Allow me to explain, I myself am pagan and I have noticed several things about pagans and non-pagans. No offense, but Christians, Jews, and orthodox religions tend to be... now can I put this delicately, well.. orthodox. They're taught from day one that men who show up in the middle of the night, take your baby brother away to another world to eventually turn him into a goblin unless you do him some 'special favor' tend to be Agents of the devil. (gee! I wonder where they got THAT idea? Knowing Jareth this is not altogether an inappropriate assumption)  
  
Well, I want my representation of Sarah to be anything but orthodox. Pagans tend to be more flexible and more able to adapt to adverse situations (can we say the Spanish inquisition?) Her choice of religion is just my way of giving Sarah another dimension. Lets face it, the first time she met Jareth, Sarah did not drop to her knees and pray, no! She stood up to him and practically spit in his eye!  
  
I'm not going to stick my thumb into a religious bee's nest here, so that's pretty much all I'm going to have Sarah say about that subject. If it makes you feel better, just ignore the fact but please keep in mind that this woman had been dealing with real 'in your face' supernatural phenomena for seven years. I believe, in some small way that would have affected her world view slightly.  
  
I hope this doesn't affect your enjoyment of the story and if I get enough review to the contrary (oh say, three negatives to one positive) I'll go back and delete the offending part. Is that okay?  
  
D.D. 


	6. In Which There Is Much Filling In of Bac...

In which Mucho Background Info is Filled In!  
  
AU- Ugh. I hate it when this happens. Okay, I was reading through the reviews (24 as of now! I'm so proud of me! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!) I noticed that some of you had questions, I'm sorry I didn't e-mail you, Ravyn but I thought it would be better to answer that question here rather than on a personal basis.  
  
Okay, first of all, I'm sorry if I didn't say this more clearly in the story but Jareth has been pestering Sarah for seven years (that would make her about 22), so yes, he has been popping in and out of her life since after the Labyrinth incident. I like to think Jareth would have given her a month or so to cool down though...  
  
Also, about the Furniture, the thing that's actually special is the apartment complex itself. I was originally going to make it a side effect of long term contact with the Ghostly poltergeist resident (Bea), but logically the effect would fade after Bea leaves the aboveground (and she does go, believe you me! That's all I'm gonna tell you) That could come back and bite me in the butt during the sequel so I'm looking for a different reason. Right now it's under unexplained phenomena. Anything that resides in that apartment building acquires permanent sentience. All the neighbors have living furniture too, but again. I'm saving it for the Sequel.  
  
Last but not least, this one came in via e-mail and I could have just answered you straight-aways BrandiElf, but the questions seemed to me that it would be one that would be coming up again and again. Yes, Cain's name does have biblical importance. I really couldn't resist the irony. I thought it was just so terribly appropriate. Shoot me, I don't care!  
  
Gee, that was a mouthful. I'll restrain from monster Author's Notes in the future.  
  
***  
  
Chapter six: In Which Sarah gets yet Another Lesson and much Background is Filled in!  
  
Theme music: There She goes (I don't know who that's by)  
  
***  
  
Jesse had entered the room once to stoke the fire, there was a permanent evening chill in the Sunset Strip. Sarah had carefully wrapped the coarse wool blankets around herself in a sort of toga, so she could sit on the side of the bed. Anything to lessen the impression of `Bedtime Story!' It just didn't seem right to be curled up naked under the blankets while a rock star's wet dream sat in a chair beside you and told you a story. If he kissed her forehead and told her `Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!' she would not be responsible for the ensuing violence.  
  
That thought was strangely comforting.  
  
Jareth was uncharacteristically serious tonight, though. He probably wouldn't take the opportunity. He sat leaned forward in the armchair that he'd conjured up from god only knew where. His long tapered, musician's finger were laced firmly together and supported his temples, shielding his eyes at the same time.  
  
"So?" Sarah prompted.  
  
"So." he murmured. "Forgive my silence, Sarah. I'm just trying to order the story in my head so it will make the most sense. I'm sure you've needed to do the same a time or two in your profession?"  
  
Sarah nodded. "All the time. Take as long as you need."  
  
Jareth leaned back. "Thank you, but I think I have it." he took a deep breath, fortifying himself for what would assuredly be a trying half an hour.  
  
"All right." He began. "I was born 200,347,98 years ago. That makes me a very mature man by Fae standards. Someone's usually killed us off by the time we're 100,000. That's most of the reason that our numbers grow so slim, you can tell that I have very strong magical powers. Would you believe me that, to date, I am the strongest Fae ever to walk the Underground?"  
  
Sarah frowned and thought it over in her head. "I think that... if there was someone stronger than you, I would be very frightened." She answered truthfully.  
  
"And rightly so." Jareth agreed. "I know that by human standards I am anything but kind, but believe me Sarah, there are those worse than I. My brother Cain for example. We share a father, yet different mothers. Mine was mortal, his was Fae." He paused to let Sarah digest that.  
  
"You-you're half human?" Sarah stammered.  
  
"Indeed I am, my dear. It's half the reason I am so strong, the Fae have lived so long that they've in-bred themselves, thus weakening their magical talents. My father was very broad minded for his generation, for any generation actually. Once he had done his duty to the Faerie Council he sent his wife away, they never got along, and took a Mortal Concubine." Jareth paused to sigh nostalgically. "My Mother was... very beautiful, she was also very kind, and very brave. I always knew her to be that best of mortal-kin incarnate." He chuckled. "Sometimes I despaired of finding a bride for myself that could hold a candle to her." he shook his head again. "But I digress.  
  
My Mother was an Arch Druid. It was said that magic flowed in her veins instead of blood, she could do more with one breath than what ten druids could do in ten years, even if they did nothing but purify Sorcerous waste in all that time. I inherited her talent, in some small measure. Druid magic mixed with Faerie blood made an explosive match in me. Sometimes I wonder if I am worthy of it.  
  
My Brother Cain, was fed poison about my Mother from the day of his birth, he too was born of the most powerful of the Fae, yet he has never held a candle to me. His mother taught him to hate mortals, for she saw my father's love for my mother to be the ultimate slap in the face. Her bruised pride motivated her to raise Cain as a twisted purist of the worst kind. Being second to what he saw as the ultimate abomination, me, only increased Cain's bitterness.  
  
A few thousand years ago, I led a campaign to unite all of the Underground under one rule, and end forever the Feudalism of my kindred. With my power behind me, I succeeded, but Cain led the most powerful opposition to me. It was little to no trouble to put down his army, whom I pardoned since they were mostly demoralized farmers from the Velt plains, held only by fear of Cain's ire. Cain I pardoned as well, with a small chastisement... I actually found the inspiration for it from the Religion of the Sacrificed God. I'm afraid what I intended to be mercy only rubbed salt in Cain's wounds. I doubt you had time to notice in your tussle with him, but Cain has a small brand on his forehead. A circle scored with four crosshatched lines.  
  
That symbol is Fae script, it loosely translates as `attempted Fratricide' or more specifically attempted killing of a sibling who is ahead of you in line for power and getting caught. That brand severely limits his skills, he can use no magic other than the most instinctual without becoming mortally ill. I also dropped him in the more... intricate section of my Labyrinth, I made sure to seal that off to you to make the game more fair. Cain's been wandering about in there for literal centuries, and I couldn't take the risk that you might encounter him and..." here Jareth drew an eloquent line across his throat with his thumbnail.  
  
"So now he's out." Sarah finished.  
  
"Yes." Jareth agreed. "Now he's out, I wasn't expecting him for another few years to be truthful. He may have had help, he was a major patron of the Sorcerers during the Underground War. Understandably he must have been most incensed when he heard about you. I can't blame him, in his sick twisted little mind Killing you would be the ultimate revenge." Jareth shook his head. "It seems that, now, I have to kill him."  
  
Sarah frowned. "Are you sure? Can't you just drop him back into the Labyrinth?"  
  
Jareth shook his head, "I've considered all the options. No. He'll know the Labyrinth too well by now. If by some miracle he gains power in the Underground he'll most certainly put it to use by driving every mortal back up to the Underground. Our humans wouldn't be able to survive in your hum-drum world. They'd suffocate, or go mad. Your officials would certainly dub them as such." He exhaled through gritted teeth. "No. These people are mine. Mine to punish, mine to reward, and mine to protect. Even if I must kill my own brother to do it..." he leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Then so be it." he muttered. "So be it."  
  
Sarah bit her lip as she took in the new dimension of Jareth she'd just been presented with. He'd certainly hinted that he had such a side, but she had never seen it so clearly as tonight. She took a breath, composed herself and scooted closer to him.  
  
"Jareth, tell me about growing up here. What was it like?" she asked quietly.  
  
Jareth looked down from whatever image the ceiling was painting for him. A soft smile was tugging at his lips. "We are full of questions tonight, aren't we? I thought one bedtime story was the limit? That's what my mother always told me." he teased.  
  
Sarah kicked him lightly in the shin, although she didn't do much more damage than smudge the shine on his boots. Jareth didn't seem to mind. He drew a dramatic sigh.  
  
"Well! If you're going to be like -that-!" he drawled. "I suppose I have -no- choice, but beware Little Princess. I told you the last story because you had a right to know, I'll demand payment for this one." He rolled his eyes comically. "Tell me, would you kiss me for a story?"  
  
Sarah frowned and pursed her lips. "A kiss." She repeated. "And you'll tell me about your childhood?"  
  
"Oh yes, indeed!" Jareth leaned forward expectantly, a wicked grin painted across his face. "Just one little kiss."  
  
Sarah shrugged and leaned forward till there was no more than a thought's worth of space between them. She tried hard to ignore that clattering beat of her heart and the suddenly intense look of hunger darkening Jareth's eyes... but it was too late, she lost her nerve and brushed her lips across his cheek.  
  
Jareth pouted. "You call THAT a kiss?" he cried indignantly.  
  
Sarah looked pointedly the other way. "You never said where or what kind!" she said firmly.  
  
"You name your kisses on the Aboveground?" Jareth asked quizzically. "Remind me to ask you about that sometime. As for now, I must take my leave of you." he blew a flirtatious kiss in her direction.  
  
"HEY! Waitjustonegodessbedamnedminutehere! What about your promise? I paid you!" Sarah shouted.  
  
Jareth nodded sagely. "Ah yes, well as I didn't specify what kind of kiss I should be paid, you never specified when I should tell you your story! Besides, the rule stands, one story a night. Maybe tomorrow." He winked comically at her. "Besides, My Darling Sarah, duty has just called loudly and violently, and is, I believe throwing furniture. I'll give Beatrice your good regards. TTFN, Ta ta for now!" he paused to leer lasciviously at Sarah's chest. "Though it is so very tempting to stay and watch the splendid scenery."  
  
Sarah gasped and clasped her arms over her bare chest, in her fascination with Jareth's tale she hadn't noticed that she'd been giving him a free peep show. When she looked back up, the miscreant had vanished to ultimately safer pastures.  
  
Sarah threw herself back at the bed.  
  
"Men!" she huffed at the ceiling. "Can't live with him and shooting him wouldn't do any good!"  
  
Jareth's disembodied laughter floated through the empty air. "Goodnight, sweet Sarah. Sleep tight and don't let the ziparumpazoos bite!"  
  
***  
  
End Chapter Six  
  
***  
  
AU- that last sentiment of Jareth's is one that my dearly departed Daddy used to say to me every night before I went to bed. Man, he was twisted. Well, the fruit never falls far from the tree they say!  
  
Y'know, a friend of mine brought up an interesting topic today. (I'll mention no names but if you read the reviews you might guess who she is!) Chocolate milkshakes and ice-cream really stimulate the creative processes! We're busily conducting research, e-mail me with your findings!  
  
My results are two chapters of Legends in one day, and some of my best work! I'm inclined to believe! 


	7. In which Sarah takes a Short Break

AU- Sorry this is late, I've been having some net problems. My PC doesn't want to upload anything onto the net. *pouts* I don't think I like AOL anymore. I'm going back to Netscape!  
  
I'll make it up to your with a DOUBLE chapter update, it that okay? *cringes* Okay, no air borne rotten fruit, the coast must be clear... okay ! On with tha show!!  
  
***  
  
Chapter Seven : In which Sarah takes a Short Break and Discovers Surrogate Motherhood  
  
Theme music:  
  
***  
  
The next morning brought... changes.  
  
Sarah stumbled down the tavern stairs, rubbing sleep from her eyes just as Molly was approaching the foot of them with a tray of broth and orange juice. When she saw Sarah, he hands fluttered up with what Sarah had begun to recognize as her overly feminine gesture of surprise.  
  
"Love! What are you doing up?" she cried, hurriedly ushering Sarah to a trestle table and plunking the tray down in front of her. "I thought for sure you'd spend today in bed!"  
  
Molly dropped herself in the seat opposite Sarah, her bright pink skirt foofing out in all direction. (Is foof even a word?) She propped her chin up on her hand. "I heard you had some excitement last night.  
  
Sarah stretched and yawned. "Excitement?" she shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose you could call it that, I'm fine now... Jareth took care of me." she ducked her head, creating a curtain of dark hair to hide her blush.  
  
Molly gave an unladylike snort. "Yes, well I guess you -could- call nearly being drowned a spot of excitement..." she paused and allowed herself to soften a little. "but if his highness looked after you last night, then you're probably just fine, as you say." She cocked her head. "Breakfast is on the house, along with room and board until His Majesty says other wise. Jesse's orders." Molly winked. "I think Jesse's taken to you."  
  
Sarah's blushed intensified ten-fold, so much so that she was positive that Molly could see it glowing through her hair. "Well, as long as she knows I'm no competition for Gawain." She muttered.  
  
Molly blinked. "Of course you're not!" she paused with a smile. "No offense, but you just don't have what it takes to break up -that- relationship. You're too nice, and besides after seeing the way Lord Jareth looks at you... well, one would have to be masochistic as well a suicidal to make a move on you!" she broke off with a wink. "Why don't you take a walk after breakfast and see the sights? There isn't much in Thistledown, but if you go down to the waterfall, you'll see where Gawain is purifying himself."  
  
"Purifying himself?" Sarah asked quizzically.  
  
Molly shrugged. "Ask him, I'm no Druid. Must be important, though. Can't see myself standing under a frigid waterfall for something that wasn't."  
  
Sarah watched Molly flounce back into the kitchen before looking back down at the tray. She really wasn't much of breakfast person, and broth didn't strike her as a truly nutritious meal anyway... but it would be ungrateful not to... and she shuddered to think what her impromptu mother hen would do to her if she didn't eat it.  
  
Sarah drank down as much of her liquid breakfast as her stomach could settle and discreetly deposited the rest on the dish depository before ducking out the door and back into the permanent twilight.  
  
Yesterday she'd been too tired to do no more than avoid obstacles on the way to the inn. Today though, she noticed some architectural differences between this town and the goblin City she'd originally compared it to. She'd noticed Japanese influence in the bathtub last night, but hadn't thought too deeply on it... she'd been rather distracted, what with Cain and all.  
  
Now that she -was- thinking on it, that same influence showed here as well. The houses where piled haphazardly on top of one another in a way that defied gravity, same as everything else it this weird place, but where there was a roof that wasn't acting as a floor for someone else, there was a marked air of `Pagoda' about them. The houses themselves seemed to blend in with the surrounding foliage the way the ancient Japanese houses did too. The effect was strangely pleasing.  
  
Sarah whiled away about an house just strolling around the town, taking in the combination herb and rock garden and trying to decipher the few signs she found here and there. It was ultimately futile, apparently Jareth had worked some magic on her so that she understood the local dialect but the written language (which seemed to be an odd hodgepodge of Greek symbols and Japanese kana) remained beyond her.  
  
Sarah had been standing before a rather ramshackle pagoda trying to decode the sign n front of it for roughly fifteen minutes when she suddenly got the goosebump feeling of eyes on the back of her neck. Fearing it was Cain, her fingers crept for the bowie knife strapped to her leg.  
  
"It says Caution! House Condemned!" She turned in surprise when her ears caught the voice of a young boy.  
  
The speaker in question was sitting Indian style on a post directly behind her. He looked to be about... eight or nine, with wild black hair that was braided down his back and seemed to be badly in want of wash water. He was clothes in many layers of thick rags, mostly black, whether they were dyed that color or just turned that way from filth, Sarah really didn't care to guess. His face and hands, which were just about all of -him- that she could see where also grimy with filth.  
  
"... but I'm sure you knew that." the boy said cockily. His sharp, elven features turned up in a grin. He held up a small black bag embossed with two wavy silver lines. His eyes sparkled in mischief. "Yours, I believe?"  
  
Sarah gasped and her hands flew to her waist... sure enough, her medicine pouch was gone. The boy broke off with a giggle and tossed the bag to her. "You should be more careful!" he chirped.  
  
Sarah caught the bag. "Thank you, I should appreciate the lesson... how about I make up the difference to you?"  
  
The boy blinked. "Eh? What's that?" he asked quizzically. "Ye want to make it up to me? I suppose a few coppers would do nicely... ah!" he broke off with a cry as Sarah's strong fingers closed about his painfully thin wrist.  
  
"I was thinking more along the lines of a good bath and a change of clothes."  
  
***  
  
There was a crash at the door of the inn and Molly came flying out of the kitchen only to be treated to the sight of Sarah kicking in the door with a squirming bundle of the filthiest rags she had ever laid eyes on.  
  
"Gerroff me, Lady!" the bundle cried.  
  
Molly gasped. "Lady Sarah, is that... it is! You caught Eittene!"  
  
"Is that his name?" Sarah asked gruffly as she struggled with the boy, plopping him on the floor. Eittene scowled blackly as he dusted himself off.  
  
"Right so!" he growled. "Fat lot a gratitude you are, I helped you out and ye go turning me in." He dodged Molly with a squeal and darted behind Sarah.  
  
"Come back here ye little beggar!" Molly hissed. "You'll be working off the food ye stole from the kitchen!"  
  
Sarah held up a hand. "I just brought him here to get him a bath and hopefully hunt down a change of clothes." She stole a look behind her. "And possibly get him a good meal... he did do me a service."  
  
Eittene frowned up at her. "Now don't be doing that! They'll just turn me into a bond servant here!" he snarled. "I bathe in the lake, in the summer!"  
  
Sarah shrugged. "And here I was going to pay off whatever you owed them here..."  
  
Eittene blinked. "Ye'd do that... fer me? Why?"  
  
Sarah shrugged. "Call it a public service, call it maternal instincts. Are you complaining?"  
  
Eittene stole a glance at the still fuming Molly. "Keep that Hell-cat away from me an' I'll do whatever ye like. Ah, when were we talking about that free meal?"  
  
Sarah smiled. "After the bath and we get you into come different clothes." She turned to Molly. "Is there anywhere around here that you could get some clothes for Eittene? Maybe some shoes? I'd be willing to pay."  
  
Molly let herself soften a little. "I reckon that Madame Bowater's young ones might have some hand me down that would fit him... shoes'd have to be mad special. I think with about... two silvers I could get him what he needs, along with some shampoo from the apothecary for that horrible rat's nest!"  
  
Eittene's hand flew to his head. "An ye be one ta talk!"  
  
Sarah doled out the coins from her precious hoard. They were well spent, she had a soft spot for kids... especially since Jareth had entered her life.  
  
Jesse emerged from the kitchen, red faced from the heat of the stoves. "What's going on in here?" she demanded.  
  
"Lady Sarah's taken our little thief under her wing. She says she'll pay off his debt here and dress him up proper." Molly snapped. "I'm going to find him some decent clothes, could we fix up the servant's bath in the kitchen. Mikael's not quite finished with the guest tub..." she paused to eye Eittene's slight figure. "Besides, I think he's a tad small for anything else."  
  
Jesse cocked her head at Eittene. "Seems like you finally had a stroke of luck, boy." She murmured. "Fine then, consider your debt canceled. King Jareth is looking after Lady Sarah's tab for the next few days, I'll just consider this a part of it. Mooly, go ahead and fetch those clothes... ah, wait!" She produced a string of knotted rope and a chalk slate from her apron. "Off with yer clothes, boy."  
  
Eittene cast a reproachful glance at the open door. "I got some self respect!" he cried.  
  
Jesse rolled her eyes and thrust the chalk and slate at Sarah. "Ye take him into the back room and measure him up, one tally for every space between the knots." She paused. "Can you write our language?"  
  
"I'll do the writing down!" Eittene said hurriedly and Sarah cast him a grateful glance.  
  
"Thank you." she murmured as she ushered him up the stairs and into her rented room.  
  
Eittene shrugged nonchalantly. "I guessed you wasn't from around here, what with your accent and all. Taint uncommon for a foreigner not to be able to read. Tis harder than listening I reckon."  
  
"You have that right." Sarah demurred as she unlocked the door to her room. "Go ahead."  
  
Eittene obediently went ahead of her and looked about the clean room with apprehension. "Nah... now Lady ye ain't... one of them, kiddie lovers are ya?"  
  
Sarah shook her head. "Of course not!" she reproved. "I would never do such a thing. I have a brother about your size."  
  
Eittene cocked his head. "And where is this `brother' of yours?"  
  
"Home." Sarah said simply. "Take off your shirt so I can measure your arms."  
  
Eittene complied. "Since I'm being good about this an' all, mind telling me where home is?" he asked as he held out his arms for Sarah to measure.  
  
Sarah shrugged, no sense in hiding it. "New York, in the Aboveground." She held down the cord. "Nine knots."  
  
Eittene scribbled something down on the slate and added nine tallies beside it. "Now it makes sense!" he said. "What with the redhead was saying down stairs about the King his'self looking after ya. Yer the Mortal gel he's chosen out for his self!" he grinned as if proud of his bit of deductive reasoning. "Makes everything I been hearing around town makes sense now."  
  
"You've heard of me?"  
  
Eittene nodded. "Course, taint every day that someone nearly gets drowned in the Inn's tub and gets saved by the King his self. Tis the reason I snatched yer purse, I was hoping to ask ye a few questions."  
  
Sarah smiled and motioned to him to lift his pants so they were tight along the inseam and she could measure him without offending whatever modesty the boy had.  
  
"Well, you've got your chance, and more." She murmured. "Eleven knots and a half of one." She decided and Eittene wrote down some more gibberish.  
  
Eittene looked up at her. "So, what's yer plans for me?" he asked. "Don't stand to reason that you'd just... send me on my way after doing all this for me. What've ye got up yer sleeve?"  
  
Sarah smiled. "I just have a good feeling about you, is all. I was thinking about asking you if you wanted to come with me when I continue my journey. If you want to, that is. You seem like a smart boy, and I could use someone who can read tagging along."  
  
Eittene frowned. "I'll think about it."  
  
"It's entirely up to you." Sarah shrugged. "I mean, this is your home, isn't it. I couldn't ask you to leave your family..."  
  
Eittene made a face. "Don't be stupid! This is a Singles colony, ain't no families here. I ain't got a mum nor da. Wha makes ye think I'd be out on the streets nicking purses for my bread iffen I had me one nor both?"  
  
Sarah blushed. "I was asking delicately." She clarified.  
  
"Well." Eittene huffed. "Ye got yer answer."  
  
Sarah nodded and would have answered with something upbeat and cheerful but a discreet knock at the door interrupted her.  
  
"The bath's ready for him, Lady Sarah."  
  
***  
  
End Chapter Seven  
  
***  
  
AU-Eitten's is gonna be fun too, and that pronounced Eh-Tee-Uhn. 


	8. In Which There is Much WAFFY-ness

***  
  
Chapter Eight: In Which There is Much WAFFY-ness  
  
Theme music: Complicated by Carolyn Dawn Johnson  
  
***  
  
"... an that there is a Weeping Oak."  
  
Eittene pointed out a thick barreled tree that had the bark of a live oak and the sweeping branches of a willow. Sarah was fascinated.  
  
"I've never seen anything like that Aboveground!" she cried.  
  
"Nor will ye." Eittene agreed shaking his head so that his newly clean and shorn locks pattered on his olive tinted cheeks. Underneath all that dirt, there was been the most enchanting little boy with a lovely fey like beauty that promised to flower into heart stoppingly good looks. He was also much more pleasant to be round after three fierce scrubbings eradicated the... odor that had clung to him.  
  
Eittene grinned up at Sarah puckishly. "Do ye think ye can spear anything with yon bow and arrows?" he asked quizzically.  
  
Sarah glanced back at the bow that Jareth had gifted her with. "Most likely, if I had a clear shot." She shrugged.  
  
"So why not catch us some lunch so we don't have to tramp all the way back to the Inn?" Eittene prodded.  
  
Sarah flushed. "Hey, I'm a city girl. Straw targets are what I'm used to. I wouldn't even know how to cook anything I caught, much less clean it."  
  
Eittene made a face. "Don't they teach you anything of use in the Aboveground?"  
  
"Oh sure, I can speak and read in two different languages..."  
  
"Neither of which do ye any good here." Eittene interrupted rudely. "Try again!"  
  
Sarah made a face. "I can do mathematics, and I know all about science and botany, I can also tell one mean story as well as act parts of it out."  
  
Eittene snorted. "Well, I can see where figuring could come into use, but not that science an' botany. They'd be of no use down `ere, different laws and such. I remember my parents teaching me that much afore they lit out on me." he shrugged. "the only thing I can see that ye've got to Barter with is that story tellin' an acting. There's always someone willin' to pay fer a good tale. Me for instance." He fluttered his dark lashes imploringly.  
  
"I thought you were hungry?" Sarah chortled.  
  
"I am." He grinned. "Tell ye what, ye kill us a rabbit an I'll clean it and cook it while ye spin a yarn fer a poor mum-deprived boy like me."  
  
Sarah's heart instantly melted. "Fair enough."  
  
Three arrows, two rabbits, and a revolting lesson in field dressing them from later; Sarah and Eittene were sitting on opposite sides of the fire over which the rabbits cooked. Sarah carefully cleaned every spot of gore from the arrows she retrieved before tucking them away.  
  
Eittene was carefully burying the innards of the rabbits in the ashes of the fire when she finished.  
  
"I'm ready for that yarn now." he hinted none too subtly as he sat up from his work.  
  
Sarah grinned. "Of course. What kind of story would you like to hear?"  
  
Eittene mulled over that one for a while. "One about ye."  
  
"Me?" Sarah blinked. "No tales of pirates, or mad tyrants? Those are the type Toby begs for!"  
  
"Well, now I ain't Toby now am I?" Eittene pointed out. "I'm Eittene and I don't know too much about this strange lady who comes out of now where, scrubs me senseless, and then takes me for a walk. I'd like to, I think it'd be down right fascinating. Tell me about how ye, an Abovegrounder, managed to catch the Goblin King's eye."  
  
Sarah sighed. "Oh, all right then." she leaned back against a handy tree, of which there was no lack. "Once upon a time there was a young girl named Sarah who lived on the Aboveground..."  
  
***  
  
Jareth suddenly looked up from the Kingdom reports he'd been reading over. Sarah had just said his name.  
  
"Well, now. What is that girl up to?" he mused as he set the papers aside, they were nothing earth shattering, and summoned a crystal into his palm and peered into it intently.  
  
Sarah's voice came over the scrying link... she was telling a story. The corners of Jareth's lips perked up as he noticed the small boy sitting near her, attention rapt upon her. She always did have a way with children. She would be a magnificent mother one day, especially if he got his way...  
  
"She lifted her screaming baby brother out of the crib and cried out `Goblin King, Goblin King wherever you may be! Take this child of mine far away from me!' ... Of course nothing happened, those weren't the right words. Frustrated, Sarah tried bouncing the baby on her hip but nothing would stop his crying..."  
  
Jareth's smile dimmed a little in surprise. She was telling -that- story?  
  
A wicked grin curved his lips as small prank blossomed in his twisted mind.  
  
***  
  
"And so, as she paused at the threshold of her parents' room to turn off the light, Sarah turned back to look at Toby. No small amount of bitterness burned in her heart, she was still young so she didn't realize that she was transcribing the pain and betrayal she felt from her mother's abandonment of her and her father's choice to move on and re-marry onto the Baby. It was then that she found her right words..." Sarah voice was eerie on the permanent evening air and Eittene -swore- that he didn't feel shivers creep down his spine!  
  
"Careful, Sarah!" Jareth cautioned. "Don't say them again, otherwise I might spirit away this one as well!"  
  
Sarah squealed in surprise as Eittene ducked behind her and whirled on Jareth, "Dammit Jareth! Don't sneak up on me like that!"  
  
Jareth shrugged. "If you say so, Dear." He said, not unlike an indulgent spouse. His long legs carried him to Eittene's side of the fire where he tossed himself gracefully onto a tuffet of moss. "Don't let me stop you. Indeed, I don't think I've had my bedtime story tonight." His eyes twinkled with merriment at their private joke.  
  
"Aren't you a little old for bedtime stories?" Eittene asked in disgust.  
  
Jareth chuckled. "You're never too old be lulled to sleep by a beautiful woman, m'lad. Never let anyone tell you otherwise... Sarah?"  
  
Sarah shook her head. "I suppose you were listening in from the start? Oh... all right. Where was I?"  
  
"you had just found your right words." Jareth prompted. "This is where I come in." He said as an aside to Eittene.  
  
Eittene made a face and scooted closer to Sarah. "-He's- the Goblin King?" he asked Sarah in disbelief.  
  
Sarah nodded. "He's more impressive than he looks." She whispered and winked at Jareth who, judging from the sour look on his face, had heard their little exchange.  
  
"Maybe I should blow something up." He groused. "Ever since you came along, I get no respect anymore..."  
  
Sarah made a sympathetic moue in his direction. "Tough." She said sweetly and turned to face Eittene. "Well, he -is- right. That was when the goblin King appeared, right as Sarah said her right words..."  
  
Sarah's soft contralto wove a magic spell on the air that night and shortly both King and Boy were well ensnared. Even Jareth laughed as she told them of the daring rescue of Ludo and Eittene clapped when Hoggle overcame his cowardice to come to Sarah, Ludo, and Sir Didymus's rescue at the gates of the Goblin city.  
  
Finally Sarah wound the story down to it's end.  
  
"... the Goblin King's presence was overwhelming, it did nothing to aid Sarah's already faulty memory when it came to that last line. `Sarah' he said in his most deep, convincing tones. `Fear me, love me, do as I say... and I will be your slave.' Sarah had to look away from his burning eyes. `For my will is as strong as yours... my Kingdom is as great... my Kingdom is as great...' she could not remember! `Let me rule you' the Goblin King pled. Suddenly she knew. `You have no Power over me!'`  
  
Jareth winced almost imperceptibly at that line, and Sarah did not miss it. She hurried through to the end to be greeted by enthusiastic clapping from both members of her audience.  
  
Eittene grinned. "That was great! Ye really did `im in!" he stole a nasty glance at Jareth who deigned not to notice.  
  
Instead Jareth gracefully rolled to his feet and prowled across the distance between he and Sarah. "Indeed she did." He murmured. "Such a tale deserves a reward." He stopped and knelt before Sarah. "Watch carefully now... don't blink!"  
  
He held his hands before Sarah's face and trailed his fingertips softly against her cheeks. "Skin as soft as silk..." he murmured. " and pale as an ivory rose..." his lips moved in a silent mantra and Sarah felt a sudden weight against her chest. Her eyes darted down to rest upon the pendant now decorating the ivory column of her throat.  
  
A silver rose enameled in white.  
  
She looked back up to Jareth who smiled secretively. "It has other properties, but you'll discover them as necessary." He whispered.  
  
"Jareth... I..." she blushed. "Thank you."  
  
He nodded and vanished in a swirl of glitter. Sarah tinkered with the rose idly before raising her eyes to meet Eittene's knowing glance.  
  
"W-what!?" she cried.  
  
The boy rolled his eyes. "Ye're durn pathetic, ye know that?"  
  
***  
  
End Chapter Eight  
  
***  
  
AU-Short! I know, the tardy bell rings in five minutes and I want to post this on time! Damn thee AOL! (insert dramatic echo) 


	9. In Which We finally Get Moving Again!

***  
  
Chapter Nine: In Which We finally Get Moving Again!  
  
Theme music: Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears  
  
***  
  
The black curtains were up again by the time Eittene and Sarah returned from their walk, thanks to Jareth's interruption they never did find the Waterfall where Gawain had reputedly been `purifying' himself.  
  
It was just as well.  
  
"We're back!" Sarah called cheerfully as she and Eittene knocked the trail dust off their shoes at the threshold of the inn. Gawain stuck his head out of the kitchen door, he was covered with a light smattering of flour.  
  
"It's about time, where were you?" he asked, all in good humor. "Who's the kid?" he asked when his eyes lit on Eittene.  
  
"A friend." Sarah said simply. "Have you met Gawain, Eittene?"  
  
Eittene bowed politely. "We've met a time nor few. Never said nothing', more as I was meetin' his purse." He chuckled. "Doubt ye remember me."  
  
Gawain's smile dimmed for a moment and then abruptly widened. "I recognize you!" he emerged from the kitchen dusting flour from his hands. "Your that lad with the light fingers who helped me get revenge on the High an' mighty nobleman who tossed lead into my collection cap!" he ruffled Eittene's hair. "You clean up right nice! Where'd you get off making the acquaintance of the Lady Sarah?"  
  
"Not much nor anythin'." Eittene demurred. "Jus' some ladly curiosity about a Lady that led me ta gettin' washed up and `adopted' sommat."  
  
Sarah smiled fondly at Eittene. "He helped me read a few signs and I... well, cleaned him up a bit."  
  
"You read, then?" Gawain blinked in surprise. "Now that's a talent, what do you read?"  
  
Eittene drew himself up proudly. "Well, afore me Mum an Da lit out on me I was tutored in Gaelish, Goblin, Laeherillian, Veltran, High Aristo, an' a smatterin' of ancient Aristo." He grinned cockily at Sarah. "I can speak em too. Me Mum an Da was scribes."  
  
Gawain blew a long note of surprise. "Now that's a handy skill. I don't suppose you'd be adverse to taking the Lad along with us?" he looked up at Sarah. "We'll be needed his talents, I myself only know Laeherillian and High Aristo."  
  
Sarah shrugged in confusion. "I don't even know what you two are talking about, I'm from Aboveground remember?"  
  
Gawain smacked himself. "Right! I forgot, sorry about that. Eh, reading isn't such a common talent in the Underground. There's too many dialects in too small an area. It's because of the way the land's made up, it's always shifting in accordance to the flows of Magic in the earth. So travel from, oh say, the Velt Plains to the Labyrinth is a touch difficult. They're almost countries unto themselves, so they have different dialects. People write what they know and in the more populated area there's written script from all over. This lad says he can read and understand most of it, it would be a great help." he explained.  
  
Sarah glanced at Eittene. "It's up to you. I already offered because I just want you around, but he is right. You'd be of great help."  
  
Eittene chewed on the bottom of his lip. "Can't say as I mind. I planned on tagging along anyway, I do feel better `bout it now as I know I can do something useful." He shrugged. "Long as ye feed me and have a none too damp place to duck under when it rains, can't say as I have anything better to do. Beats the streets!"  
  
Sarah grinned and hugged the boy. "That's wonderful!!" she glanced at the flour decorating Gawain's dark features. "What were doing in the kitchen just now?"  
  
Gawain blushed. "Ah... well, you see... Jesse got a message from a friend, she's ill, so she and Molly went over to lend a hand."  
  
"Were you cooking?" Sarah guessed.  
  
Gawain shrugged. "Trying to anyway. I buried the evidence, hope you weren't hungry."  
  
"Sarah shot a brace o' conies." Eittene volunteered, trying to peer around Gawain's bulk and into the kitchen, rather unsuccessfully. "We ate in the forest."  
  
"I brought the leftovers." Sarah nodded to the cold rabbit dangling from her hand wrapped in wet leaves and twine. Seeing the light in Gawain's eyes she handed it over.  
  
"Thank you!"  
  
They retired to one of the trestle tables where Gawain preceded to dig into the rabbit. Sarah smothered a giggle at his gusto, he must have been really hungry.  
  
"Ah!" Gawain sighed as he finished. "That helped. When did you plan on moving on?"  
  
Sarah shrugged. "Well, I hoped to get Eittene fitted up with his own travel gear. We also need to wait until Jareth tells us that the whole incident with Cain is over."  
  
Gawain sobered. "That's right." He murmured as he wiped his fingers off on a handkerchief that found its way back into his pocket. "Can't say that I like staying her though, it puts Jesse and Molly in the line of fire."  
  
Sarah felt ice water trickle down her spine. "That's right, as long as Cain's free and after me then Jesse and Molly will be in danger as well because they're around me. Dammit!" she smacked herself in the middle of the forehead. "Dammit Sarah, how could you be so near sighted?"  
  
"Now Sarah, you were just doing what Jareth wanted." Gawain consoled her. "It really is a good idea to stay here for a while."  
  
Sarah shook her head. "No. I can't do that now that I know I'm risking them." She scowled at herself.. "and here I thought I'd grown up. I'll call Jareth and tell him we're moving on and why." She glanced at Eittene. "Are you sure you still want to tag along now that you know there's a psychotic ex-Fae lord out for my blood?"  
  
Eittene shrugged. "I already agreed."  
  
Sarah blinked as his ever present accent vanished. Eittene winked. "It's part of being a linguist. Besides, eventually Gawain here was going to remember that I had a different accent when we met." He shrugged. "Anyway, I figure that I should be up front and honest with you, now that we're going to be traveling together."  
  
"Is that true, Gawain?" Sarah asked.  
  
The Bard chuckled. "Well, actually I thought he'd just picked it up in the move from Dawn Circle to Sunset Strip." he shrugged. "But I can't say that I'm surprised. I was already wondering why a well educated child was out on the streets and talking like a guttersnipe."  
  
Eittene made a face. "Look, I already told you..." he started with a red hot flush.  
  
"Your parents left you." Sarah finished. "I know, dear. You don't have to worry about that. We're looking after you now, do you want to sleep in Gawain's room or mine?"  
  
Eittene chuckled nastily. "I'll stay with you, I think Gawain might have a nocturnal visitor." He winked suggestively.  
  
Gawain turned a dark red, but didn't dispute the fact.  
  
Sarah shook her head. "In that case you go wash up in the kitchen while I set down the bedroll on the floor of my room."  
  
Eittene's face fell. "No! I already had a bath today!"  
  
Sarah's expression grew stern. "I'm not saying everywhere, but your face, hands, and teeth are to be scrubbed every morning and evening from now on unless you want to face my wrath. You'll also bathe whenever there's a bathtub regularly available... with soap!"  
  
"I just might reconsider my decision..." Eittene muttered.  
  
"Too late now!" Gawain assured him cheerfully. "You've got us whether you want us or not!" he gave Eittene a none too subtle shove in the direction of the kitchen.  
  
"I'll see that he scrubs good and -Hard-, Sarah." He assured her. From the malicious grin on his face, Sarah suspected he was getting some of his own back in revenge on the boy.  
  
She shook her head and took herself upstairs to fix up the promised bedroll. In the back of her head she was already estimating the cost of out-fitting the boy with the necessities; a bedroll, a knapsack, a good pair of walking shoes, possibly a knife... no, he could carry her spare.  
  
It wasn't really too much of a surprise when she entered her room and found Jareth just in the act of setting down a child sized knapsack on her bed.  
  
"Rumplestiltskin, Gotcha!" she murmured sarcastically as she walked past him. "Tell me, is there anything you -don't- think of?"  
  
Jareth smiled unrepentantly. "Oh, all the time. I just make up for it by spying on you."  
  
"Like I didn't already know that." Sarah sighed. "I suppose you already know we're moving on in the morning?"  
  
"Of course I do." Jareth said seriously. "I can't say that I approve, but knowing you I'm lucky I got you to stay here as long as you have. Seriously Sarah, I -do- want you to stay here until my people track down Cain, but it's your choice whether or not you want to put yourself or the people around you in danger." He shook his head.  
  
Sarah sat down on the bed and sighed. "I can't put Jesse and Molly in danger because of their hospitality."  
  
Jareth carefully sat down beside her. "You know, you could end the entire game with just three little words." He said gently.  
  
Sarah made a face. "I've never given up on a thing in my life Jareth. You know that!"  
  
Jareth smiled. "Really? What about your dreams of being an actress?"  
  
"Reality reared its ugly head, do you know what a cannibalistic business acting is?" Sarah said exasperatedly. "And it's not like I didn't -try-."  
  
"True." Jareth allowed. "What about reuniting with your mother?"  
  
"Again, reality-check." Sarah shook her head. "I did, and I found out what a superficial, vain, self-centered little piece of fluff she really was. I had better conversations with the Play Bills she sent me. Do you know she never wrote me one letter in my entire life that didn't involve her career? She never once asked me what I was doing in school, or if I'd met a boy I liked or if I got along with my stepmother... the only way I ever got her attention was by saying I wanted to be an actress." Sarah chuckled grimly. "You know I liked to act out scenes from my fairy tales and books, but I liked it private... Stages scare the living daylights out of me. I found I liked writing the scripts better, and novels even more than that!"  
  
Jareth laid a comforting hand on her shoulder and Sarah covered it with her own. "Mom didn't understand why I didn't want the lime-light, she doesn't like to think that there are a hundred other people out there behind the scenes making the stuff that makes her look good." She shrugged again.  
  
"Would it really be so bad, Sarah?" he asked quietly. "Living with me? You like me. That I know." He gently turned Sarah around to face him. "Would it be so hard to love me?"  
  
The door opened to admit Eittene, dripping water and cursing like a mad thing. He stopped when he saw Sarah and Jareth on the bed. "Ah... am I interrupting anything?"  
  
Jareth shook his head and chuckled. "No child, not at all. I was just dropping off a small gift for you." he nodded to the knapsack. "I've provided the things you'll need to travel with Sarah... ah, by the by, what happened to your accent?"  
  
Eittene flushed. "Ah... nothing."  
  
Jareth shrugged. "Well, I shall take my leave of you. I'll meet you again in Thornesbury after you've met Rosebud." He stole a glance at Sarah. "I think you two shall get along famously!" with that he vanished once again.  
  
"I wish he wouldn't do that." Eittene muttered. Hi eyes widened in alarm as Sarah fell back onto the bed. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Yeah." Sarah murmured. "As good as I'll ever be."  
  
***  
  
End Chapter Nine  
  
***  
  
AU- next chapter I'm going develop Gawain more, I feel like I've been neglecting him. Ah, you won't be hearing anything more from Bea until closer to the end. What I've got planned for her is going to fit into her own side story, it'll be good though, I promise! I just want to focus on Sarah's adventure, it's going to get complicated from here on in. Malcolm and Bea deserve their own happy ending. ;oP 


	10. In Which Our Resident Rogue gets up and ...

AU- ugh, I can't believe it took me this long to get this out. Please don't stone me! It won't happen again, I promise.  
  
Oh, and a big shout out goes to Ravyn and Robyn (the evil twins) You guys have been really hugely helpful listening to me prattle on about half baked story plots.  
  
It's thanks to them that this is finally out!  
  
And no, I haven't been on pain medication since last week! *blushes*  
  
***  
  
Chapter Ten: In Which Our Resident Rouge gets up and Tells a Story  
  
Theme music; Standing Outside the Fire by Garth Brooks  
  
***  
  
Flute music wound its way through the permanent evening air, casting a sort of spell on all those who listened.  
  
Sarah and Eittene were curled up near a cheerily crackling fire while Gawain serenaded them with his flute. The ruddy light cast orange highlights over his dark features and turn his dusky forest toned clothes to fire hued finery.  
  
Sarah's whole attention was on the bard, a small smile tugged at her lips as he let the melody flow into a tune that was familiar.  
  
"You know Greensleeves in the Underground as well?" she asked in amusement.  
  
Gawain broke off his concert, much to his audience's dismay. "What are you talking about? I've never heard that tune called `Greensleeves'. It's called Summer Cider."  
  
Sarah frowned. "It's a famous song Aboveground, it's older than anything!"  
  
Gawain snorted. "I suppose either a mortal Bard adapted it from a Fae or the other way around. That's interesting, though. Sing your version for me."  
  
Sarah blushed. "Oh come on, I can't carry a tune in a bucket." She demurred. "Not even if it was strapped to a skateboard with a tractor to tow it."  
  
Gawain chuckled. "Try, just let the music flow and don't try and hit any notes where you might think your voice will break."  
  
Sarah's blushed deepened, but she straightened up and Eittene, who had been curled up next to her for warmth scuttle away to give her breathing room. She took a deep breath and rang out in a soft soprano that she never knew she had.  
  
"Alas my love you do me wrong to cast me off discourteously,  
  
when I have loved you so long, delighting in your company!  
  
Greensleeves was all my joy, Greensleeves was my delight!  
  
Greensleeves was my heart of gold, alas my Lady Greensleeves!"  
  
Gawain blinked... and then blinked again. "You call that not being able to carry a tune?" he burst out laughing at the chagrined look on Sarah's face. "Your melody is a little rusty.. I think from not singing often." He chuckled and lifted his flute threateningly. "I'll fix that though, a voice like yours ought to be put to use!"  
  
Sarah giggled nervously. "Ah... we'll see."  
  
" `We'll see' nothing!" Gawain burst out. "My parents were training my voice since it stopped cracking!" he said testily. "I'm serious about this, little Lady. We druids take music very seriously. Most of our spells are sung or chanted."  
  
Sarah sensed a chance to turn the subject and escape being forced to sing. "Tell me about it. Growing up as a druid, I mean. I can't imagine anything further from being raised in the suburbs of California!"  
  
Gawain blinked... and amazingly enough, a small shade of pink graced his weathered cheeks. "You... want to know about -me-?"  
  
"Yes." Sarah clarified. "Where you grew up, who your parents are. I'd like to know, wouldn't you , Eittene?"  
  
The boy looked from Sarah to Gawain and grinned. "Yeah, I don't reckon we've had our bedtime story tonight, have we Sarah?" he winked and nudged Sarah with his elbow. "You're the one who's been telling them until now." he grinned nastily at Gawain. "Now it's your turn!"  
  
Gawain glared at the little boy. "You just want revenge for the night we left the inn when I made you wash!" he accused.  
  
"Righto!" Eittene agreed. "Besides, could you reuse this face?" he sprung up and framed Sarah's heart shaped features with wiggling features. "Look cute!" he advised her.  
  
Sarah obediently turned on the charm and presented Gawain with the most pathetic, neglected teary eyed, sick puppy dog face that man has known to this date.  
  
"You're evil!" Gawain cried. "Both of you!" but he couldn't resist the onslaught. "Oh all RIGHT!!! Sit down, and shut up!"  
  
Eittene and Sarah immediately sat down and watched him, their entire postures radiating rapt attention on the Bard.  
  
"My god." He murmured. "There's two of them! They're multiplying!"  
  
Gawain interrupted himself with a dramatic sigh. "All right, this isn't particularly entertaining, but if you insist... I was born, oh, roughly 34 human years ago."  
  
"Wow!" Sarah whistled. "You don't look it!"  
  
Gawain chuckled. "Druid magic slows down the aging process, remember? I stopped aging on my eighteenth birthday." He shook his head with a small smile. "but that's another story, as I was saying... You both know that Druid numbers grow slim since so few are attracted to the occupation, right? Good.  
  
Well, I was born Aboveground to a mortal woman who was too young to want a baby..." a small flicker of pain shimmered briefly in his eyes before surging down below surface. "She got her hands on a copy of the spell that King Jareth was circulating in those days and wished me away. Jareth didn't know what to do with me, since my mother -actually- wanted me gone. He gave me to the Druids who protected Leihaedrielle's borders in those days, and I was raised among them.  
  
My childhood was... mostly training. My entire clan considered me their responsibility so I was passed off regularly among the families, a few weeks in this house, a few weeks in that house... I suppose that's why I've never really been that comfortable staying in one place for too long. The Clan Elders themselves trained me in the magical arts and Jareth came to check on me often, he's like a surrogate big brother to me.  
  
When I was old enough, I felt like I needed to repay the entire world for taking care of me the way it did... so I became a Ranger, that's a Druid who travels around and specializes in the offensive arts. Mainly Leihaedrielle is when I patrol, unless Jareth has a specific job for me... like body guarding you, Sarah." Gawain shrugged. "I sing for my supper and fight for my soul, it's what I do." He looked up to his audience.  
  
Sarah had a hand up over her mouth in the classic gesture of feminine commiseration... but Eittene had an odd look in his eyes.  
  
"What's wrong with you, midget?" Gawain asked leerily.  
  
"It's just something I've noticed before, and your story makes it seem to make a bit of sense." He said. He looked at Sarah and back at Gawain. "You know you two look exactly alike, don't you?"  
  
Sarah and Gawain blinked simultaneously. "No." They chorused and looked at each other. Silence reigned as they examined each other critically.  
  
"That's just not possible!" Sarah said carefully.  
  
"Is it?" Gawain wondered. "Jareth always said I take after my mother."  
  
Sarah blanched. "So do I."  
  
"Well that's just a fine coincedance!" Eittene chirped. "Long lost siblings reunite for the first time in..." he paused for some hasty mental calculations. "Twelve years!"  
  
Sarah glared at Eittene. "We don't know for sure! The likelihood that..." she trailed off and looked worried. "My mother -did- leave my copy of Labyrinth behind when she ran off to be an actress... and it is something she would have done..."  
  
Gawain scowled. "I know a way to find out for sure. Everyone gather around the fire!" He picked up his flute and stared into the red flames as Sarah and Eittene gathered on either side of him.  
  
"What are you going to do?" Sarah asked cautiously.  
  
"Scry into the past, our past. If we're only related in that we both came from the mortal plane then the fire will just show our meeting in the Night ring, if we're actually... the way Eittene says we are then we'll see the specifics about our mother."  
  
Sarah swallowed as Gawain lifted the flute to his lips and began the spell.  
  
***  
  
Roughly thirteen miles away, in a small village named Ravens Loft on the very edge of the Night Ring a man with short platinum hair, and an odd burn mark on his forehead stood before the vanity in his inn room and cursed vilely. He was dressed in tight leather pants and a loose shirt with short sleeves that wrapped about him kimono style and left a goodly portion of his chest visible, displaying the ruby pendant resting on his sternum.  
  
A short, stocky individual watched from beside the doorway as the man scowled at his permanently ruined profile.  
  
"That little mortal witch broke my nose!" he cursed.  
  
"Get over it, Cain." The short man advised, keeping a weather eye on the shuttered window. "She got in a lucky shot, you set yourself up for it by leaving yourself open. Anybody with any sense would have reacted the way she did."  
  
Cain whirled on the figure. "I didn't hire you for your opinions or your conversation! If you have so little to do that you need to sit here and pester me about a slip of guard then you can go out and hunt those three down yourself!"  
  
The short man left off his vigil. "You hired me to guard your body, not go slaughter little girls. You don't pay me enough for that." he snapped. "I don't feel the overwhelming urge to go running off to avenge your dignity."  
  
Cain spat in the general direction of the wash basin. "I pay you just fine and if you don't want to exert yourself then keep your opinions to yourself!"  
  
Cain crossed the room and threw himself onto the bed. "The little brat managed to summon both my... brother and that pet Bard of his. I had a report this evening, they left the town that my brother set his wards around and are now in the open. It's time to move now."  
  
Cain's bodyguard frowned. "You aren't going to attack them by yourself again?"  
  
Cain made a face and winced as it jarred his injured nose, a painful reminder of the girl's resourcefulness. "No." He hissed. "It is tempting and I doubt my idiot sorcerers would manage the job adequately either, they'd just take one look at the Druid and forget all about their mission." He scowled. "Maybe you will have to bestir yourself from my side."  
  
"I am -not- a hired killer!" the Bodyguard snarled.  
  
Cain fingered the pendant around his throat and the bodyguard's hand crept up to his throat.  
  
"You'll be anything I say you are." Cain purred silkily. "You sold yourself into my service and now you're mine until I say otherwise."  
  
***  
  
End Chpater ten  
  
***  
  
Oh my god that was crappy! I'll do a better job next time! I'm sorry guys, this chapter was giving me grief. 


	11. In Which We Meet the Dwarven Drow!

AU- This one goes out to two very special people.  
First, this one's for Ravyn because she mercilessly nags me to finish this story, and that's exactly what I need! There should be a million of you... no wait, scratch that thought. One of you is more than enough!  
Second, a big thank you to Ragnarok! He doesn't know about Labyrinth (I'm rectifying that) but his advice about D&D monsters was invaluable.   
***  
Chapter Eleven; In Which we Meet the Dwarven Drow  
Theme Music; Kryptonite by Three Doors Down  
***  
Sarah didn't dare breath.  
Three sets of eyes watched the scene unfolding in the heart of the campfire avidly.  
A woman, whom Sarah immediately identified as 'Mom!' was laying in a hospital room, staring down at the red wrinkly bundle in her arms as if it were a ticking bomb one second away from zero. She seemed to barely hear the nurse that cooed over the baby Gawain.  
Instead her eyes drifted, almost trace-like to the slender, red-leather bound novel that lay on the table next to her bed. The nurse, sensing a need about to occur, immediately fetched the book.  
As the nurse left, the young Linda opened the book and began reading from it.  
Sarah's blood chilled as the baby started to cry and a painfully familiar scene began to unfold in the fire.  
Gawain sucked in his breath as young Linda, in earnest, spoke the Words over his younger self. As glitter began to form a vortex at the foot of the hospital bed he cut off the spell with a harsh word.  
"We've seen enough." He said harshly.  
Sarah leaned back away from the fire and rubbed her arms fiercely   
"That proves it." Gawain said with his head bowed.  
Sarah started to say something upbeat and comforting, but Gawain burst up off his feet and swept Sarah up into his arms to twirl her about.  
"I've got a sister!" he crowed.  
Startled laughter was torn from Sarah as Gawain put her back on her feet and gathered her up in a bone crushing hug.  
Eittene blinked. "Aren't you sad that... well, you know."  
Gawain snorted at the little boy. "Old news, brat. I've grown up knowing my mother wished me away." He said crisply. He grinned at Sarah, "I'm just glad I actually have a blood relative. For the first time in... oh, geez. My entire life. Sit down!" he commanded.  
Sarah did so and met Gawain glittering gaze.  
"Tell me everything about you." He demanded. "Your home, your father, our half-brother, I want to hear it all!"  
It seemed there was to be a bending of the 'One story a night' rule.  
Just this once!  
***  
Unbeknownst to the overjoyed trio, about a league away and closing distance rapidly, was Cain's short bodyguard. He ran at a loping stride that shouldn't have been possible for a human to attain, he covered miles in mere minutes.  
Cristobal didn't want to think too hard on his assignment, to do so would trigger another lovely wave of pain from the necklace around his throat.  
"My sword-master must be spinning in his grave right now." He muttered to himself. He'd briefly considered 'getting lost' but the slave necklace around his neck made such idea impossible. The mortal woman's location glared on his mental radar like a sunrise.  
Cristobal forced himself to skid to a halt when the woman's presence almost became overwhelming... the artificial drive to -kill- radiating from the slave collar almost overpowered his intellect and Cain's words from earlier sprang up in his mind once more, echoing like a morbid mantra.  
Once again he could feel the coarse twine of the necklace settling against his skin as he stood, helpless, caught under Cain's glamour.  
*You will kill the woman Sarah Williams and anyone who happens to be with her when you find her. Then you will return to me for your next assignment.*  
"I'm going to kill that Fae son of a bitch!" Cristobal snarled as once again he tried to tear the accursed thing from his neck... he only succeeded in burning his hands.  
***  
"... and now that he's older, Toby's so much fun!" Sarah's hands drew graceful lines in the air as she spoke. "Anyway, I was at least an hour late and there was Karen standing on the porch wearing -that- look on her face, I swear, she must practice it in the mirror! 'Sarah! You're an hour late!'" Sarah did an uncanny imitation of Karen's nasal, supercilious attitude, even though it was lost on her audience who had never met the wretched woman.  
Gawain guffawed nonetheless. "Oh, she must have been fun to deal with."  
"You have no idea." Sarah sighed. "and she was blocking the door while she was at it too so I had to stand out in the pouring rain and explain to her what had happened."  
Eittene made a face. "Danaa save us all from evil stepmothers... and evil blood mothers while he's at it." He added as an afterthought.  
Sarah winced at Eittene's casual reference to his parent's abandonment of him. "Eittene... do you know why your parents left you?" she asked delicately.  
"It was during the Cleansing." Eittene shrugged. "they were on the run from someone or the other and I guess I slowed them down. I was better off without them, really. I did most of their translation work for them already. Most of the business in town was used to dealing with me so I didn't have a lot of trouble raising a living at first..."  
Gawain reached over, across the fire and flipped Eittene's hair off of his pointy ears. "... but people weren't really eager to hire a Dark Elf, is that what drove you out of the Dawn Circle?" he chuckled hen Eittene blanched. "It was possible for you to fool Sarah, but I noticed a long time ago, kiddo. Ya can't hide from the best." He said with an arrogant toss of his head.  
Eittene jerked his head back and smoothed his hair back down over his ears. "Look, I can't exactly pick my relatives! I was only thirty three during the Restoration!"  
Sarah blinked. "But... you look like you're just a little boy!!!"  
Gawain and Eittene winced.   
"Thirty three is very young for a Drow." Gawain explained. "about like... five or six for a human child."  
Sarah scowled, she was getting just a little tired of not being informed on the history of the Underground. Especially when these two started talking about it and not explaining themselves. It wasn't like she'd had a chance to study up for this or anything! "Would you guys mind explaining all this 'Restoration' and 'Cleansing' crap, if it isn't too much trouble?" she seethed, only allowing a iny bit of the fustratio she was feeling touch her voice.  
Apparently it was more than enough, for Gawain and Eittene both flushed identical shades of dark red.  
"Jareth explained the Restoration to you earlier." Eittene volunteered, scratching the back of his head in a nervous gesture. This seemed to be a touchy subject for him. "It was when he abolished the feudal age among Fae and locked up Cain in the Labyrinth."  
"That's essentially it." Gawain nodded his agreement. "the Cleansing happened afterwards. Cain was supported mostly by the Sorcerers and the Dark Elves, or the Drow, when the Restoration was over the Sorcerer's Guild was practically crippled and there was a massive witch-hunt for almost every last Drow in the Underground. Most people like to pretend the Drow are all dead, but some of the Drow had children whom they abandoned, like Eittene, in their haste to escape. Mostly those kids died or took care of themselves."  
Eittene snorted. "We took care of ourselves." He corrected. "Self reliance is something any Elven kid learns early on." He said defensively. "The only reason my mum and Da taught me anything instead of selling me of or kicking me out the way they did my older brothers and sisters was because I picked up the lessons before they got bored with it."  
Sarah's heart melted. "Eittene..." she reached out to touch him, but he ducked out of her reach.  
The little boy bristled. "I said I couldn't pick my relatives." He said hotly. "I don't need pity because they were such lousy people, okay?"  
Sarah withdrew her hand. "I understand that. Still, you deserve some love and kindness in your life, don't you?"  
Eittene didn't answer and Sarah shrugged.  
"Well, you've got me now whether you want me or not." She said as she stood up and brushed dry grass off of the seat of her pants. "I need to visit the bushes." She murmured, half to herself.  
As she passed Eittene she dropped a sisterly kiss on his forehead. "Go the river and wash!" she commanded.  
"What is it with you and your obsession for washing up?" Eittene complained. Nevertheless, he stood and made for the direction in which the sound of rushing water could be heard.  
"It's because you stink if you don't." Gawain jeered at the boy's retreating form.  
"You too!" Sarah told the Bard. "You didn't exactly come out of today's hike smelling like a rose!"  
"It's not like you did either!" he cried.  
Sarah made a pert face. "I washed after we set up camp. Go!"  
Gawain flushed and went to follow the boy to the river.  
Sarah watched them go and shook her head. Old or young, all men were just giant babies! Honestly, she just couldn't do a thing with either of them!  
She absently snagged her bow and arrows as she went in search of a bush that wasn't adorned with the Underground's equivalent of poison ivy, a small grey plant that had flowers like baby's breath and coiled like a morning glory. Gawain had pointed some out to her when he was giving 'nature lessons' and cautioning her never to leave camp or be alone with out a knife or her arrows.  
She didn't really see what good her arrows would do against, oh say, a bear or the like, but Sarah complied nonetheless. Who knew? She might see a rabbit or something that would make a nice supper or something.  
As it turned out, it was a good thing she had brought her arrows and apparently she was better with them than she'd originally thought.  
There was a dark flicker a the corner of her eye and before she realized what she'd done, Sarah had loosed three arrows in the pertinent direction.  
A short man with long black hair, threaded with gray, tied up in a high ponytail stood a few feet away from her, holding a wicked dagger loosely in his hand... almost like he'd forgotten what he'd wanted to do with it.  
Although she'd been quite sure that the man had been trying to kill her, Sarah saw that his attention was entirely focused on something on the ground at his feet... a necklace of black twine woven around some sort of red stone.  
"Shiva..." the man swore. "You shot it off!"  
Sarah blinked." What?" then she notice the arrow embedded in the tree behind the man and the tiny wound on his neck... one of her arrows must cut through the woven cord securing the ornament to his neck.  
Sarah yelped as the thing burst into flames, leaving nothing of the necklace but ashes.  
The man looked up at her. "You just saved you own life." He informed her. "and mine as well. I owe you one."  
Sarah shook her head. "I don't understand."  
The man scowled. "My name is Cristobal, and Cain used that" he nodded his head at the lump of ash that was once a necklace. "to make me try and kill you. When you shot it off, you broke his spell."  
*Fin  
AU- okay, there. That's wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be! I think I've got my mojo back! Prepare for better, quicker chapters from here on out! 


	12. In Which We Learn a Nasty Secret

AU- okay, ya got me. I've been ignoring Bea and Malcolm! Here's a little `peek' at what's going on for them, but not too much! I meant what I said when I told you they were getting their own side story!  
***  
Chapter Twelve: In Which We Learn a Nasty Little Secret  
Theme Music: Rainmaker by Matchbox 20  
***  
Cain dangled his black and red pendant from lazy fingertips, he tried to reach through the control gem to Cristobal's mind.... nothing.  
A flicker of what might have been annoyance flickered across his in the form of a slight tightening around his stormy eyes and a minute downwards flick of his elegantly winged eyebrows... whatever it was, it was smoothed out too quickly to be positively identified.  
The last images conveyed to him had been as Cristobal had leapt out of the foliage at the woman, dagger drawn and at the ready... a second more and that slender white column of her throat would have been opened wide in a ragged red grin.  
Cain returned the pendant to it's rightful place around his neck. For a few moments he sat in silence, drumming his slender fingers against the solid wood of the chair he occupied. The necklace should have continued to influence Cristobal's thoughts even after it had been removed. Some how, the spell binding the mercenary's mind to Cain's will had been shattered.  
How had the little witch managed to know exactly where to shoot?  
Better yet, how did she know the proper way to channel her will through those arrows and break the glamourie? Even Underground, that wasn't a commonly practiced skill.  
As far as Cain knew, or anyone else in the Underground, the woman was from the Aboveground; the Null Zone, the Younglands yet unblessed by Danaa. There was no logical answer as to why she could know magic... unless...  
Cain's eyes widened in disbelief. NO! It couldn't be, not another one!  
***  
"You saved both of us." Cristobal repeated. "it seems I owe you my life."  
Sarah blinked in confusion at the strange man sitting across from her as she handed him her water flask. The man took it a took several slow, cautious sips... as if he hadn't had the chance to take a drink for a while and was afraid of making himself sick... then again, he probably hadn't.  
At first glance, she'd taken him for a slightly older human man... but now that they were out of the shade of the dense canopy and into the clear twilight sun of the clearing Gawain had chosen for a campsite... she wasn't so sure.  
He was young, that was obvious. His clear, pale white skin was stretched tightly over his strange features, which were an odd combination of sharpness here and blocky there. He was the impression of one who had long since acquired the wrinkles that went with venerable age, appearances seemed to be deceiving. His long, straight black hair was slicked back into a high ponytail that dangled down to his mid shoulder blades.  
When Cristobal stood, he was about an inch and a half shorter than Sarah, who was by no means a tall woman. His build was slight, but powerful. Beneath the simple linen shirt he wore, Sarah saw powerful muscles ripple and move beneath his skin. If it hadn't been for those muscles, he might have had a willowy grace to him, but instead he seemed to have a quiet strength hidden within his supple body.  
The only clues that he was something other than human was the streak of metallic silver in his hair that started at his roots and traveled cleanly to the end of his pony tail, as well as the strange... experienced quality to his eyes. The onyx orbs had a ancient quality about them, when Sarah looked into his eyes she could feel the weight of centuries pressing down on her. The last clue was his long pointed ears. Where Eittene had demure little points of the tips of his ears, plebeian enough that they might be mistaken for human ears, Cristobal's ears were grand proclamations of his heritage.  
He dressed more sensibly than most of the people she'd met so far, with perhaps the exception of Eittene. He wore, as stated before, a simple linen shirt was laced halfway up the front with sleeves that reached to about his mid forearm. Twin short swords were sheathed on his back and held securely in place by the bandoleers that formed a leather X across his chest. His dark brown breeches seemed to have padding sewn across the front of his thighs, Sarah assumed it was a sort of armor, and were tucked into heavy black boots that also seemed to have the hidden armor over his toes and at the back of his heels. He wore a belt not unlike Sarah's, in that it was covered by a multitude of pouches and pockets, the only difference was the stout crossbow that hung from holster that alternately was strapped to his thigh.  
"What do you mean, you owe me your life?" Sarah stammered, then out of the blue. "Are you a Drow?"  
Cristobal blinked for a moment and then broke out into a low, rumbly chuckle. "Yes, m'lady. Half of me is, anyway. The other half is dwarf." He explained in an indulgent, almost paternal manner... well! If she hadn't been convinced of his superior age before now...  
"What I meant, when I said I owed you my life," He continued in much the same tone. "is that I must return the favor some time... but for right now, I need to go kill someone." He made a small bow and set the borrowed canteen on the ground beside him before turning and making his way into the forest.  
"Wait!"  
Cristobal hesitated. "Yes?"  
"Are you going after Cain?" Sarah pressed.  
Cristobal nodded once, short, eloquent.  
"Then stab him once for me." she told him with feeling. "For interrupting my bath!"  
Cristobal guffawed. "I think you've already repaid him handsomely. Last time I saw hime, his nose was so swelled up he could barely talk properly." He assured her.  
Sarah made a face. "That was for trying to kill me."  
Cristobal chuckled again. "Of course. As you wish it, it doesn't begin to pay my debt but I shall... enjoy it."  
The dwarven drow disappeared into the surrounding forest just as Gawain and Eittene appeared fresh from their impromptu bath. Or rather Gawain strode into the clearing with a squirming, curse spewing elf cast over his shoulder and an unholy grin on his ruggedly handsome face.  
Sarah noted, with a.. maternal sentiment, that they were both soaked to the skin. She quickly drew some of the spare blankets out of the various packs and went about fussing over the two of them, attempting to get them dry.  
Somewhere along the line she made the unconscious decision to keep the whole incident involving Cristobal to herself. Especially once she realized that she never had gotten a chance to complete her original quest.  
Damn.  
***  
About a league or so away in Thornesbury a woman was leaned gracefully over an unnaturally calm pool of water. Before her, in the depths of the water the scene played out much like a movie.  
She smiled indulgently as Sarah fussed over her traveling companions.  
A man emerged from the general darkness cloaking the room from casual scrutiny, only the ethereal light from the scrying pool gave any illumination.  
"Are things evolving properly, Rose?"  
Rose nodded, her shiny blonde curls bounced with the motion. "Indeed they are, love." Rosebud's fingertips hovered just over the surface of the water, as if Rose was caressing Sarah's face.  
"He'll make a fine match for him." The man said suddenly, startling Rosebud so that her fingers touched the surface of the water and the ripples erased the picture from the water.  
If she was annoyed with this, she didn't show it. Instead she leaned back into his embrace. "Yes she will be." She agreed. "It will be a relief to share the job with another, finally. I do so look forward to being with our son again." She sighed, this time with a touch of bitterness. "all these years... now that the end is in sight, I'm only just now beginning to understand the hardships involved."  
"That hard part has only just begun." The man cautioned her and gave her a bracing hug. "But you're right. The end is in sight. Let us hope for the best."  
***  
End Chapter Twelve  
***  
AU- do you hear that? That is the sound of a plot thickening! 


	13. In Which our Resident Poltergeist has a ...

AU- Okay, I know I promised this last chapter but... okay I got sidetracked!   
***   
Chapter Thirteen: In Which our Resident Poltergeist has a Bad Experience with a Wall   
Theme music: X-files theme song   
***   
A crash resounded throughout the Castle Beyond the Goblin City, it was quickly followed by the sound of a womans voice cursing vilely... in three different languages no less.   
Jareth looked up from his never-ending pile of paperwork that kept the Underground running smoothly. Beside him, seated at a desk only slightly smaller than Jareths, was Malcolm, who was dealing with his own pile of paperwork. The mortal man winced as he recognized Beas voice.   
"Looks like darling Beatrice has forgotten she cant move through walls again." Jareth commented as he returned his attention to his work.   
Malcolm winced again. "Poor dear." He murmured as he followed Jareths example... although he found it more difficult to ignore the fact that Bea had just slammed herself into a stone wall then the Goblin King did.   
"Shell be fine." Jareth commented absently. "Even though she acquired a physical body in the transition between Above and Underground shes still much less susceptible to physical damage than your average human. I expect the only thing damaged was her pride."   
Malcolm shrugged helplessly. "Id still like to go check on her... if thats all right with you, your Majesty?"   
Jareth nodded. "Of course, of course. I managed all this..." he gestured broadly at the man-height stacks of paper that littered his study. " for centuries before you arrived and decided I needed a secretary in the worlds worst way. I can manage it for another half an hour. Go on, see to your Lady Fairs dignity... and try to see that she doesnt throw anymore goblins around this time?"   
Malcolm nodded once and fled Jareths study with the Goblin Kings chuckle chasing at his heels.   
Jareth gestured the door shut as his Aide disappeared down the hallways. "Hes almost as hopeless with Bea as I am with Sarah." Jareth mused.   
Although, for the life of him, Jareth couldnt understand what Malcolm saw in that overly proud, temperamental, stubborn, annoying little ghost of woman... he winced as another proud, temperamental, and stubborn womans face leapt to mind... all right, so maybe he could commiserate with the younger man. It wasnt as it he, himself, had any clue as to why he was so head-over heels for Sarah either.   
At another gesture of his hand most of the documents in the room vanished except for a few gilt edged pieces that were marked as Vital. Jareth smiled to himself as he picked up those last few.   
When the myriad townspeople of the Underground found that the Majority of their petty complaints (he stole my cow, he slept with my wife) went ignored theyd finally start going to the Magistrates hed assigned to the villages. Danaas name, thats what hed put them there for!   
The gilt edged letters were from the Magistrates themselves, or the Village Headmaster when the Magistrate died. These documents entailed things that a Magistrate couldnt deal with (Dragons, Rogue Fae, Sasquatch sightings) if short, things that Jareth was there to handle.   
Dragon in the Mystik Mountains...   
Beguilers in the Bog...   
Ah! A note on Sarahs progress!   
He noted, with a smile, that she was doing quite well. She was almost to Thornesbury where she would meet up with Rosebud, the Seeress/Prostitute. This missive was from Rosebud herself, stating briefly that Sarah was now within her Scrying range and was perfectly safe.   
So far not one of his spies had found Hide nor Hair of Cain... that bothered him. It wasnt like Cain to be so cautious as to wait for a window of opportunity. Perhaps he had finally learned discretion in the Labyrinth, Jareth mused... but it was unlikely.   
Experience did much for an individual, but Jareth wasnt willing to bet Sarahs life on it.   
Another, earlier, missive was yet again from Rosebud. It must have arrived a few days before the first... while Malcolm had still been refusing to let Jareth dump the dross of his red-tape in the bog of eternal stench. It told him that she could find no trace of Cain in the Weald, but since he had obviously been there, there was only one answer. Hed had help from the Sorcery Guild.   
Jareth set down the papers in a neat stack and leaned back in his comfortable chair to ponder his options. Sarah was under as thoughrough protection as she could possibly be. After Jareth dearly departed Mother, Gawain was the strongest Druid in the Underground. Most certainly the presence of the young Dark Elf would serve as an early warning system for the Druid... drow were notoriously sensitive to Sorcery. As long as she kept on the move or gave up so he could barricade her into his castle she was as safe as she was going to get.   
"Shell never give up." Jareth said quietly to himself. "its just not in her nature."   
Ah well.   
Jareth shrugged nonchalantly to himself and summoned a scrying crystal.   
Maybe a spot of eavesdropping would cheer him up?   
***   
Bea scowled at the unrepentant wall as if it had purposefully placed itself there so she would walk into it. The goblins, who had been in the room when shed teleported herself in were huddled in one corner.   
As Jareth had predicted, she was unharmed, had in fact felt little to no pain. It was just so damned frustrating to be corporeal again!   
There were definite bennies, chief among them being that she could enjoy good food again, also being able to pick things up again was a plus, her sense of smell was far more acute than it had been, seeing was much easier now that she had eyes, and the ability to -sleep- had done wonders for her people-skills.   
The only downsides to the whole deal was that she had to be much more conscious of where she was and where she was going... or she had incidents with doors and walls like the one that just happened.   
That and she was stuck in the Freak of Natures castle while Sarah was out in the middle of nowhere with a psycho chasing after her.   
Bea scowled and was on the verge of calling up one of the psychic storms that Poltergeists are so well known for when Malcolm burst into the room. This had roughly the same effect on Beas temper that a bucket of water has on a match.   
"Are you all right?" he panted.   
Bea was glad that her emotions were no longer on display in her aura, which disappeared now that she was (sort of) flesh and blood... blushes were so much easier to conceal. "Im fine!" she said nonchalantly. "Nevah-bettah!"   
Malcolm exhaled slowly. "Oh good." He sighed in relief. "You had me worried, you know that? I swear, you must have shaken every wall-sconce in the castle."   
Bea shrugged it off. "I said I was fine, doncha listen?" she snorted. "I was looking for May-berry."   
Malcolm blinked at the mention of his younger sisters name. "Shes down in the Kitchen trying to reclaim it from the Goblins."   
Bea nodded. "Right-o!"   
Malcolm made to say something... but Bea blinked out just as the sounds began to emerge from his recalcitrant throat.... he stared at the empty room for a long while, until the Goblins started snickering at his expense.   
Malcolm shot a glare at the filthy little creatures that promised divine retribution should they decide to spread stories about this little incident before turning on his heel and making back for King Jareths study where , hopefully, his attention was appreciated.   
***   
Jareth shook his head disparagingly at Malcolms fruitless encounter with Beatrice. The boy just didnt know how to get a girls attention.... then again, Bea was hardly helping by fleeing him every time they were alone.   
Talk about fear of commitment!   
Jareth snorted again and banished the crystal. He was hardly one to talk, hed been courting Sarah for nearly seven years and look how Far hed gotten!   
His fingers crept up to the place where her lips had brushed his cheek in a chaste, sisterly kiss. The flesh still burned days later from the contact. It made his spine chill to think about what it would be like when Sarah finally capitulated to him.   
An evil grin spread across his face.   
There was a mortal belief.... Karma, he believed. It was a belief that should one do good deeds in ones life then good things would happen to them in return.   
Maybe it was time that a certain Goblin King started currying some favor in his direction, and what better way to do that than to give two certain mortals he knew a gentle push, or shove if necessary, in the proper direction?   
Oh the possibilities!   
***   
Malcolm pushed the door to Jareths study open... and if Jareth hadnt been lounging at his desk right where hed left him then he might have thought hed gotten the wrong room!   
"Uh... what happened to all the papers?" he asked hesitantly.   
"I tossed them into the Bog of Eternal Stench." Jareth said casually... although something in his tone promised that Malcolm might follow them if he made a fuss about working their way through them the way he had when hed first stumbled across the gargantuan pile of paperwork that piled up from day to day.   
The Goblin King turned to Malcolm with a benevolent smile... that displayed his strong white teeth to an unsettling degree. "Why dont you go down to the kitchen and get something to eat?" he suggested conversationally. "I dont think youve eaten today and, if I recall, humans require an absurd amount of food and rest to maintain peak efficiency."   
Malcolm smiled weakly and was about to protest when he noticed the hard glint to the Monarchs mismatched eyes. "Uh... sure!" he stammered lamely. "Ill just go do that right now!"... and fled the room.   
Jareth summoned another crystal and spoke a liquid spell over it, one that would ensure that Bea couldnt simply blink out the next time Malcolm got into sight. Now the boy had his chance to woo his Lady Love. Jareth applauded his own ingenuity.   
***   
"... and put that load over there behind the pantry."   
Bea nodded absently and gestured the large stack of flour sacks floating in midair to the area May-berry had designated.   
"Good." The heavy-set African woman applauded. "Youre so much more useful than any of the waiters at my old restaurant!" she praised Bea. "It would have taken five of them to move all that."   
Bea shrugged the compliment off, her skills had come with a heavy price. Being hit by a car was not an easy way to go, even if it had been traumatic enough to rouse the latent telekinetic talents that had slept within her and followed her into death.   
She didnt say anything though, shed tried when shed gotten similar compliments from May-berry and the rest of Malcolms family... who, for some strange reason Jareth had dragged along when shed summoned him to take her into the Underground when Sarahs distress signal had pierced the barrier of the Worlds, sending Bea into a fury such as she had never known... and wouldnt know again if she had her say in matters.   
May-berry grinned happily and clapped Bea on her shoulder. It was to her benefit that she didnt flinch when Beas flesh gave under the assault in a way bone and muscle shouldnt.   
"Im going to start supper." May-berry decided out loud. "Why dont you just run along so I can get to work?"   
Bea nodded firmly... shed already witnessed May-berrys mother hawk attitude towards the Kitchen. The goblin chef whod formerly been running the place was still in bandages. May-berry had some pretty stern rules involving her kitchen; 1. No men were allowing inside at any stage of the cooking process, whatsoever (not even Jareth) 2. No one else was allowed in either, only she was nicer about it to the girls. 3. Obey rule one or die.   
The kitchen was no place for amateurs anyway, Bea rationalized to herself, as she mounted the servants stairs to the upper levels. "Ill just go spread the word." She called down to May-berry who chirped something up-beat and affirmative.   
As Bea disappeared up the stairs, the main door to the kitchen from the rest of the castle opened to admit Malcolm... who took one look at the carrots his older sister was chopping and fled in the other direction.   
Hed face the Bog over his sister any day!   
***   
The delicate muscles beneath Jareths left eye jumped in the chronic stress twitch he developed when he was Not Amused.   
So they wanted to play rough, did they?   
***   
end Chapter 13   
***   
AU- now Jareths getting into the matchmaker act! Whatever shall we do?   
  
  



	14. In Which Sarah finally Gets to Take a Ba...

AU- One more week of school! YES!  
  
*Does the one legged happy dance*  
  
*falls down*  
  
*gets back up*  
  
*blushes*  
  
*dusts self off*  
  
*continues with the two legged happy dance*  
  
***  
  
Chapter Fourteen: In Which Sarah gets to take bath in peace  
  
Theme music: Drunk Scotsman by Doctor Demento  
  
***  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
Jareth looked up casually from the crystal ball he'd been using to spy on Sarah and smiled blandly at Bea.  
  
"I might ask you the same, I recall forbidding my study to all mortals save Malcolm."  
  
Bea's eyes widened dramatically and she pressed a hand to her heart. "Ooh! My dearest heart! Did you think I cared?"  
  
Jareth banished the crystal with a suppressed growl. "You realize I only put up with you because your vexatious existence makes Sarah happy?"  
  
Bea smiled toothily. "Oh my, I was about to say the same thing."  
  
"Please tell me there is an important reason for you to violate my privacy, aggravate me to the point of derangement, and live to draw another breath?" Jareth gritted out. Bea brightened. "Yes! In fact, there is!"  
  
"Then, pray, tell me what it is." He prodded. "I cannot, for the life of me, see it for myself."  
  
"Dinner's ready!" Bea chirped and teleported away before Jareth could throw a crystal at her.  
  
Jareth's howl of frustration scared every pigeon out of it's roost for a three mile radius.  
  
***  
  
"One Scotsman clad in kilt left a bar one evening fair, and one could see by his walk that he'd drunk more than his share..."  
  
Gawain's strong tenor filled the darkened tavern like a viscous liquid and for all that he was singing a comical song, he still held his audience spellbound.  
  
Sarah regarded the mug of mead before her dubiously. Gawain had thrust it into her hands before leaving to entertain the crowds and perhaps catch a few of their coins. Someone had requested a song called Drunk Scotsman. Sarah shuddered to think what the song could possibly be about...  
  
"... he fumbled round till he could not longer keep his feet and he stumbled off into the grass to sleep beside the street!"  
  
Sarah shook her head as Gawain launched into the refrain and took a cautious sip of the drink... hmm, not too bad, but not exactly her choice.  
  
She stood and took it over to Gawain. He barely acknowledged her as she set the mug down beside him and went to get herself a cider, but he was into the song.  
  
By the bar, Eittene and the Inn keeper were still briskly haggling over the price of the rooms and looked be enjoying themselves immensely.  
  
"Would you two settle on a price soon?" Sarah asked slightly peevishly. "It's getting late!"  
  
Eittene nodded and grinned sheepishly. "Three silvers!" he told the Inn keep. "That's my final offer!"  
  
"Ah, three silvers a person is more than..."  
  
"For all of us!"  
  
"You tear the flesh from my heart little one, I cannot give you..."  
  
"Yes you can!"  
  
Sarah shook her head and looked to one of the barmaids. "How much for a hot bath?"  
  
The maid smiled prettily. "Ha'coppa, Mam! That gets you a bar o' soap and two towels! Baths 're up top, end a tha hall!"  
  
Sarah doled out a half copper coin and the Bar maid fetched her soap and a towel.  
  
"Enjoy ye self mam!"  
  
Sarah nodded, smiled, and turned to mount the stairs at the opposite side of the tavern.  
  
Without looking she could see the annoyed glance both Eittene and Gawain gave her... well, it wasn't like she could blame them given her track record concerning baths. It must not have bothered Gawain -too- much because he continued one with the next verse of the song.  
  
"About that time two young and lovely girls just happened by, one says to the other with a twinkle in her eye. 'See yon sleeping Scotsman so strong and handsome built? I wonder if it's true what they don't wear beneath the kilt?"  
  
***  
  
Jareth watched the events unfolding in the crystal wearing a grin much akin to a cat who had just dispatched a canary to it's final reward.  
  
"It's not just Cain they're worried about, Sarah-love." He purred.  
  
***  
  
As Sarah reached the door at the end of the corridor she suddenly stopped and frowned.  
  
"Don't even think about it, Jareth!"  
  
***  
  
Jareth sighed in defeat.  
  
"Damn."  
  
***  
  
Eittene sauntered up to Gawain's side, smug as the cat who got the cream, he'd done a splendid bit of haggling and had managed to get the Innkeeper down to two and a half silvers!  
  
He'd been partially glad when Sarah had left, that meant he could use his more... nasty haggling tactics.  
  
Eittene sat himself down near Gawain to listen to his song.  
  
"They crept up on that Scotsman, quiet as could be, lifted up his kilt about an inch so they could see, and there before for them to view beneath his Scottish skirt was nothing more than god had gifted him with upon his birth..."  
  
Eittene chuckled, Gawain's Aboveground roots were showing... maybe it was being reunited with the sister he never knew he'd had. The pair of them had been chattering away at each other on the road like a pair of grackles. They'd have a lot of catching up to do after they got Sarah's quest over and done with... which reminded him  
  
Since they were in Thornesbury now, it might be advantageous for him to follow some lines of inquiry as to the location of this 'Rosebud'.  
  
"They marveled for a moment then one said 'We must be gone, let's leave our friend a present before we move along!' as a gift they left a blue silk ribbon tied into a bow around the bonny star the Scot's kilt did lift and show!"  
  
Eittene snorted to cover his laughter... he'd nose around for information once the sing was over!  
  
***  
  
Jareth scowled in annoyance, Sarah had essentially forbidden him to spy on her or even visit her in the bathtub... which was annoying. He'd gotten rather accustomed to a certain quiet time with her whenever she reached a town.  
  
Oh well, perhaps Gawain and the boy would serve as entertainment.  
  
***  
  
"The Scotsman woke to nature's call and staggered towards the trees, he lifted up his skirt and gawked at what he sees. In a startled voice he said to what's before his eyes, 'Och, lad I dunno where ya been but I see ya won first prize!"  
  
***  
  
Jareth Groaned... then again, maybe not...  
  
***  
  
end Chapter 14  
  
AU-* hides behind brick wall* Okay, I knew this took a really, really long time, please don't kill me! I'm sorry, but I'll have the rest of the story out in the next couple of days! You all have been great to me! 


	15. In Which Very Little Happens

AU- *Grins maniacally* I've done it! another Chapter!  
  
MWAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH  
  
***  
  
Chapter Fifteen:  
  
Theme music:  
  
***  
  
Sarah left the bath pink and steamy and, for once, feeling much better about the world in general.  
  
Eittene had slipped a key under the door while she'd been bathing and now she made for her room, wrapped up in a fluffy white towel. The door with symbols painted on it that matched the ones on the key ring was luckily almost directly across from the baths. *grin*  
  
Sarah swept into the room with a airy grace and a smile on her face that wasn't even deterred by the fact that Jareth, once again, was lounging elegantly on the bed smiling casually.  
  
Sarah swept by him and to her packs without sparing him much attention. "Notice." She said sweetly. "That I am not asking why you are in my room, in fact I am pretending you aren't here because I intend to change."  
  
"By all means, go ahead. I am merely here to escort you to Rosebud, I suggest you dress up a little." He said slightly stiffly.  
  
Sarah turned to look at him cocking an eyebrow. Normally Jareth was only too happy to be around when she dressed... but despite his forcibly casual pose there were lines around his mouth and brow that were usually impeccably smooth.  
  
"Are you all right?" she asked. "You sound a little... stressed."  
  
"I am." He replied shortly. "I have personal interest in the way you and Rosebud get along."  
  
'Jareth...' Sarah thought in mild shock. She'd never seen him so frazzled. Forgetting getting dressed for the moment (really, Jareth had seen her in less than a towel before) she can to sit down beside him with a companionable smile.  
  
Jareth relaxed slightly and reached out to caress Sarah's hair, she let him. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked. For once the great, impermeable Goblin King was showing a weakness and, even though it worried Sarah, something in her saw and responded to it. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to offer her company to help him.  
  
Jareth wound a thick cord of Sarah's hair around his knuckles and admired the ply of candlelight on the shiny strands. "Forgive me, Sarah. I shouldn't be short with you. It matters very much to me how you and Rosebud get along. I fear that either you shall love each other or become mortal enemies on sight." He sighed. "You are so very alike that I fear the second most."  
  
Sarah cocked her head and felt a slight tug on the roots of her hair, jareth didn't release her hair but he did re adjust his grip so that it did not hurt her. "Just who -is- Rose bud, after all?" she asked. "Why do you care how she and I get along."  
  
Jareth laughed tersely. "She will not look it, but Rosebud is my..."  
  
Jareth was cut off by the door swinging open to emit Gawain and Eittiene bearing a heavy laden tray between them.  
  
"Hey Sis, we thought we'd all eat.. up... oh Hello, Jareth!" Gawain grinned. "Well, you should have said you were visiting, we'd have gotten you supper as well!"  
  
Jareth reluctantly released Sarah's hair and shook his head. "Have you no sense of shame, Bard?" he asked in exasperation as Gawain set down the huge tray onto the low table that dominated the room.  
  
Gawain grinned unrepentantly. "No! Not at all! That way my other senses are enhanced."  
  
Jareth groaned and conjured a crystal. "Well, I can at least do something..." he murmured. The crystal floated straight to the ceiling and exploded in a cloud of silver glitter that, as it touched the three travelers, left them all neat clean, and in bright new finery.  
  
Sarah had been magicked into an elegant dress of black and emerald green silk of a peculiar cut embellished by bronze jewelry and embroidery. "I'm starting to sense a pattern here Jareth." She mumbled.  
  
"Oh, but it suits you so well!" he chortled.  
  
"Nice work, Jareth!" Gawain applauded him as he inspected his own finery, tight black leather trousers with a green silk shirt and a black leather vest. "Are Sarah and I to match from now on?" he asked almost seriously.  
  
Jareth shrugged and looked to Eittene. "Hmm.... maybe I should have given you a blue shirt..."  
  
Eittene was staring at the black linen breeches and white embroidered tunic that Jareth had given him. "I... I've never had anything like this!" he stammered and Jareth laughed.  
  
"I imagine you'll get used to it."  
  
"I don't suppose we get our old clothes back, a had some rather valuable things in my pockets." Gawain asked cheekily.  
  
Jareth waved negligently. "Do you take me for an amateur? Of course you get them back, you clothes are folded on top of your packs in your room." He sniffed.  
  
Gawain shrugged and reached for the food. "Well, I suppose there's plenty to go around."  
  
"I ate, I only came to direct you to Rosebud's." Jareth assured him.  
  
"Actually, I'm not terribly hungry." Sarah decided out loud. "Why don't the boys stay here and eat and we go?"  
  
Gawain shot her an inquisitive look and, at Sarah's nod, he shrugged. "If my lady wills it." he said and snagged a whortleberry tart from underneath Eittene's fingers and handed it to her. "Take it with you."  
  
Sarah accepted the tart and was already munching on it when Jareth snapped his fingers and they vanished in a swirl of glitter.  
  
***  
  
They reappeared before a whitewashed building surrounded by tropical flowers and fragrant herbs. There was a demure sign by one side of the door that, naturally, Sarah could not read. "Jareth? What does that sign say?"  
  
Jareth blinked and looked to the sign and back to Sarah. "You cannot read?"  
  
Sarah scowled. "Not in that language, I know you did something so I speak the language but I can't read."  
  
Jareth looked vaguely annoyed but he read the sign out loud for her. "The Rose Garden." He said before taking her firmly by the arm and steering her inside.  
  
The inside of the building, or at least what she could see as Jareth practically hustled her to the back, was low lit with sumptuous appointments and a large number of scantily clad women lounging about... oh my...  
  
"Jareth!" Sarah cried, half in pain, half in anger and her body heat rose (presumably from her hot blush). "You're hurting me!"  
  
Jareth released her with a yelp of pain and took a step back from her, massaging his palm. "There was no need for that, Sarah." He said in an injured tone.  
  
"You can't just drag me around like a sack of flour either, and you deserved to be yelled at." She retorted in what she assured herself wasn't a sulky tone of voice.  
  
"Yelled..." confusion touched Jareth's face and then he pursed his lips. "I see. You don't realize it yet..." He placed a hand in the small of Sarah's back and propelled her, more gently this time to a smallish door at the back of the main room.  
  
"I don't wish for you to get the wrong idea, Sarah." He told her in a sotto voice. "but it isn't a good idea for an attractive young woman who wishes to remain left alone to linger in this area of the Rose Garden..."  
  
"I don't want to get propositioned, if that's what you mean." Sarah hissed back. "but you -were- hurting me."  
  
"I apologize." Jareth tugged Sarah close as a man emerged from the shadows with an eager look on his face, but seeing the possessive way Jareth held the tiny brunette he sighed and made for a dulcet blonde on a green silk cushion.  
  
Jareth exhaled through gritted teeth. "I should have talked her into coming to your inn..." he hissed as he opened the door and pushed Sarah inside.  
  
*Fin  
  
Au- Ohmigod, am I on a roll or what? 


	16. In Which we meet Jareth's Mum

******  
  
Chapter Sixteen: In Which We Meet Jareth's Mommy  
  
Theme Music: Misguided Roses- Edwin McCain  
  
******  
  
AU- Sorry this took so long, my computer has been having a series of hiccups that ate at least three versions of chapter 16 (grrrrrrrr) but the end result is a better thought out plot so, oh well. Anyway, I've been having problems uploading before now but 200 dolloars of tech labor and a re-vamp of FanFiction.net seem to have solved the problem.  
  
Finally!  
  
  
Sarah yelped as the floor disappeared from beneath her feet, Jareth's hands shot out in the darkness and caught her.  
  
"Watch that first step." he warned her. "We're in a staircase.  
  
"Oh, just after the nick of time..." she groused.  
  
Jareth snapped his fingers and torches flared to life on the walls to illuminate a staircase spiraling down byeond Sarah's line of sight. "Rosebud has suite of rooms at the bottom." Jareth informed her as he took her hands and led her down the steps. "She says being deep in the earth aids her Sight."  
  
"Sight?" Sarah echoed. "How can you see anything... wait, nevermind."  
  
Jareth chuckled. "You did have that lesson pounded into you on your last visit, didn't you?"  
  
"Never take anything for granted." Sarah quoted. "How do you think I ended up with Bea for a roomate and sentient furniture?"  
  
"I've been meaning to ask you about that." Jareth said mildly. "Just how did you manage that? Even in the undergrouind it is very rare for even a single inanimate object to become aware of itself."  
  
Sarah shrugged. "Actually, I think it's the building I live in. It seems to ... attract magic. I have a neighbor two doors down who dances naked on the rooftop every full moon."  
  
"So?" Jareth asked skeptically. "So do you."  
  
"I don't work skyclad." Sarah said, miffed. "And I certainly don't turn into a swan either."  
  
"You live with a swan mane?" Jareth said, startled. He grinned. "They're said to bring good fortune to those who see them."  
  
"I live with a poltergiest." Sarah clarified. "The swan mane is just a neighbor." she shook her head. "What was it you were saying about Rosebud earlier, shje's your what?"  
  
Jareth blushed. "We're almost there..."  
  
They reached the end of the stairs and came to rest before a sturdy iron clad door barred with iron.  
  
"Dagda damn his eyes..." Jareth growled. "Cain has been here." he looked imploringly to Sarah. "If you don't mind terribly..."  
  
Sarah smothered a laugh and unbarred the door. "I thought you were half human?" Sarah teased.  
  
Jareth turned an unbecoming color and looked the other way. "Somethings breed true... allergy to iron for example."  
  
Sarah shoved the door open and gasped as Jareth's hands closed around her arms. "This is the moment of truth." he hissed. "Don't let me down!"  
  
He propelled her through a demi- antechamber draped with light pink curtains made of silk and some delicate furniture. He didn't let her stop to admire their surroundings. Instead they went straight into the main chamber.  
  
"Finally!"  
  
Sarah found her eyes riveted to the tiny woman in the center of the room. She was seated at a tiny table draped with more pink silk that flowed onto the dusty-rose colored carpet.  
  
"Rose-bud I presume?" she said carefully.  
  
The woman, who had to have been younger than Sarah, rose to her feet and came across the room to clasp Sarah hands in her own.  
  
"Yes, yes!" she chirped. "And you're Sarah, Jareth has told me so much about you. It's about time you brought her to see me, you naughty child!" she said to Jareth over Sarah's shoulder.  
  
"Well... uh... I...." Jareth mumbled.  
  
Rosebud sniffed disparagingly. "I'll have none of that. Go on with you now! Sarah and I have things to discuss."  
  
"Yes ma'am." Jareth said stiffly and vanished.  
  
Sarah jumped a little as Jareth's touch on her skin abated. "Ah... weasn't that a little..."  
  
Rosebud gave a tittering laugh. "Foolhardy? Well, yes I imagine it was." she took Sarah's hand and led her to the table in the center of the room. At a gesture of her hand. some of the silk draping fell away to reveal a second chair which she propelled Sarah into.  
  
Rosebud resumed her own seat and winked conspiratorially to Sarah. "... but if his own mother can't get away with it, who can?"  
  
Sarah made an unladylike noise. "You... you're his..."  
  
The other woman gave another tinkering laugh. "I don't look it, do I? Well, yes. I do have the misfortune of spawning that vain thing my husband calls a son." she sighed. "Of course, he isn't so bad even if he thinks overly much of himself. Luckily he has women in his life such as you and I to disabuse him of the notion."  
  
Sarah relaxed a little. "Jareth didn't bring me here just to meet his mother, did he?"  
  
Rosebud sighed. "Regretablly not." she mafde a gesture with one hand and more of the silk fell away from to table... revealing as not a table but a basin of silvery water on a golden stand.  
  
"You are hear to learn everything you need to know both about yourself and those who oppose you." she said gravely. "I know what Jareth has told you, no doubt he led you to believe his father and I are dead."  
  
Sarah nodded mutely.  
  
"We aren't, obviously but we have had to hide ourselves away." Rosebud explained. "It's no cooincedance that Cain is free, it's impossible that he solved the Labyrinth on his own, he doesn't have the spiritual fortitude. By now you must realize that solving the Labyrinth has nothing to do with luck or choosing the right path and everything to do with the strength of your will."  
  
"I thought as much." Sarah murmured. "So are you saying that Cain has support of some sort?"  
  
Rosebud nodded. "I saw Gawain telling you of the power strcutures between Druids and Sorcerers, but he didn't tell you all of it... magic is all about balance. Doesn't it seem awefully imbalanced that Arch-Druids exist while there is only one sort of sorcerer?"  
  
Sarah shrugged helplessly and Rosebud laughed.  
  
"That is because, my dear, there can only be one Arch Druid at a time. When one Druid retires she passes them onto her successor, the knowledge of the powers of an Arch Druid are totally instinctual." Rosebud reached across the pool of water to carress Sarah's cheek. "You are my successor, that is hy the powers that released Cain have set him on you. That is why I remain hidden down here behind a door of cold iron and swathed in silk to muffle the power of my magic. Should either of us die before I complete the transfer of power from myself to you then there will never be another Arch Druid."  
  
Sarah blinked. "You're giving me your power?"  
  
Rosebud nodded. "I have been doing so ever since you first came to the Labyrinth." She touched the silken waters of her scrying pool. "Nothing is hidden from me except by the most powerful magics. I saw when you arrived and I recognized you for what ytou were. Jareth did as well, in a manner of speaking..." Rosebud laughed. "Of course, he didn't truly know until I pulled him aside and told him a few weeks ago."  
  
Sarah blushed but Rosbud didn't stop talking.  
  
"Time is short and there is much you must be aware of." the Arch Druid continued. "We are both vulnerable while the transfer of power takes place, but as soon as it finishes then we both will be totally immune to anything that could be thrown at us. I will be immune for it is my place to teach you the use of your magic and you... well, because you will be the New Arch Druid."  
  
"Who exactly are we talking about here?" Sarah asked dubiously, not really sure whether she believed what she was hearing. "The opposition, I mean."  
  
Rosebud sighed. "I have absolutely no clue."  
  
Au- you haste me for leaving it off there, I know it! ;oP 


End file.
